More than seven hundred home runs. Over 100 career WAR. A 145 OPS+. Three MVP awards. All capped off by a magical final season in 2022 with the Cardinals. It’s a remarkable resume, one that will see you enter the Hall of Fame by the time you become eligible in 2028.
But as Pujols rode into the sunset as one of the 20 Greatest Players in Baseball Historyhe did it with only a record of the MLB to your name. There’s just a single, lonely golden blob at the bottom of your page. Baseball-Reference. That’s because no one in the history of the game failed at more double plays what hills
When it came to double plays, Machine it was… a machine. Over the course of his 22-year career, Pujols plastered his way to a mind-boggling number of 426 career double plays. He retired with a commanding 73 double-play lead over his closest competitor, hitter Miguel Cabrerawhich is also heading to Cooperstown . He posted 12 different seasons with at least 20 double plays.another feat that won’t be surpassed anytime soon.
With an apparently innocuous roll the August 4, 2017Pujols outplayed the Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. for the top spot on the all-time list. There were no fireworks, no banners, no family on the field, no hugs. Maybe there should have been, what Pujols did was, it’s not sarcasm: a legitimate achievement. The all-time list, after all, is packed with Hall of Famers .But, What factors, obvious and overlooked, enabled Pujols’ rise as the world’s most generous double-play vending machine? What makes his record so hard to break? And are there players in the league today with a fighting chance to go after the king of double plays?
The circumstances that made this grim record possible that no one wanted to own
Pujols’ career featured a rare set of circumstances that allowed him to rack up double plays by the dozen. It was a perfect storm of factors that won’t be replicated anytime soon and should allow him to sit atop this stat for a long, long time.
Consider that…
1. He played for a looooong time
This is the most obvious dynamic. If you want to be the MLB pro leader in any category, you have to play for decades, multiple. And few hitters in the history of the game have hit harder than Pujols.
That first term in San Luis was amazingly dominant. Those 11 seasons in Missouri that he spent sweeping the National League earned him that huge 10-year contract in Anaheim. In the end, he had played for 22 years.
While no baseball player stays up in bed at night dreaming of making more double plays than anyone else, you can’t get to 426 without being outrageously good on the important things.
2. He was resilient when he was young.
During his best years with the Cardinals, Pujols he missed just 77 total games in an 11-year span. More games mean more at-bats, more at-bats mean more chances to run into a pitcher’s best friend (the double play).
3. He hit the ball hard
At its core, a double play is a math problem, a race against time. The infielders have to throw the ball around the dirt before the batter gets to the front line. The harder a baseball is hit, the more time defenders have to work. And for much of his career, few players hit the ball harder than Pujols.
4. He often hit the ball
You can’t ground into a double play if you strike out instead. In an era where strikeouts racked up by the millions, Pujols never did it more than 100 times in a season. More balls in play mean more opportunities to swing two outs. When other big, lead-footed sluggers swayed and lost their way back to the bench, Pujols, even in his advanced years, constantly made contact. That wasn’t always a good thing.
5. He had Mike Trout batting in front of him for 10 years
To roll a double play, there must be at least one runner on base. If Pujols had spent the second half of his esteemed career batting behind, say, Ben Gamel or Alcides Escobarhis playing records would be filled with solo ground balls, not double plays.
Unfortunately, from 2012 through mid-2021, Pujols came in a spot or two behind the best player of a generation. During that span, nobody got on base more often than Trout (although Joey Votto had an identical .422 OBP). That’s an excellent recipe for doubleheaders.
6. He was generationally slow at the end of his career
This is the saddest factor.
During his first spell in San Luis, Pujols was regular-slow. But during his early years in Anaheim, the already soft-legged first baseman cobegan to suffer from plantar fasciitis. That caused the speed of his feet to go from slow regular levels to slow levels painful to watch. According to StatcastPujols was, on average, slowest runner in baseball from 2015 to 2022. By the end, Pujols was limping down the base line, delicious bait for ground ball pitchers and skilled infielders alike.
Could anyone top Pujols by snatching up his dismal record?
the gap 77 double plays between Pujols and Cabrera is roughly equivalent to the gap between Cabrera and Paul Konerko, who is ranked 19th on the all-time list. Although Miggy has lost his offensive strength and currently has no speed, he would need play four more seasons . Miguel Cabrera would have to have an average of 18 double plays a year in those 4 years to pass Pujols. Very unlikely. Cabrera is at the door of retirement.
To find the next highest active player behind Cabrera on the leaderboard, you have to scroll down quite a bit (unless you count Robinson Canfromha ha ha) to Evan Longoria at 113th with 198 double plays. At 36, Longoria has no time left in his career to more than double his double play production.
But not all hope is lost. There’s a superstar in the game today with a fighting chance, a decent chance of one day catching the king of double plays.: Manuel Arturo Machado.
During his last eight seasons, Manny Machado has averaged 16.4 double plays per yearstill a little short of hilarious annual rate of 19.36 Pujols. He would need 264 more to pass Pujols. But Machado has a series of characteristics in his favor: (1) he’s good generationally so he should play for a long time, (2) he’s super durable, (3) he hits the ball hard, (4) he could have Fernando Tatís Jr., Juan Soto and Xander Bogaerts hitting up front him in the Padres’ lineup for a while, and (5) he’s not fast. A recipe similar to that of Albert Pujols.
Beyond Machado, it’s a bleak picture. Pujols really was the ideal concoction, the perfect recipe. So, it is very likely that our grandchildren’s grandchildren will continue to have Albert Pujols as the undisputed god of double play.
