Albert Pujols quietly passed Willie Mays in MLB record books

St. Louis Cardinals legend Albert Pujols is racking up historical MLB stats titles before leaving the game as one of the best to ever play.

Only four players in the history of the MLB have amassed 6,000 total bases in their career. Albert Pujols is now one of them.

With two home runs on May 22 against the Pirates and a single on Thursday against the Brewers, Pujols put his total bases mark up to 6,072.

That total puts him ahead of Willie Mays, as pointed out by Redditor deadagent03.

However, there is an important caveat. Mays’ total bases of 6,066 only counts his MLB numbers. If Negro League stats are accounted for, he has 6,080 and still outpaces Pujols.

Albert Pujols is one of four MLB players with 6,000 total bases

Pujols has 29 total bases this season in a somewhat limited DH role for the Cardinals. He could continue to climb the leaderboard with only Stan Musial and Hank Aaron outranking him.

Pujols, Mays, Musial and Aaron are the only players with 6,000 TB to their name. Miguel Cabrera is the only active player with more than 4,000. The Tigers legend has 5,178 at 39 years old.

Aaron is pretty much untouchable with 6,856 total bases in his illustrious career. Musial’s mark is more easily attainable at 6,134.

Wherever he finishes, Pujols will go down as one of the best hitters of all time. His career speaks for itself. He is just putting the final touches on it this year before retiring following the 2022 season, as planned.

Pujols has continued to prove he can still contribute to a team this year in his St. Louis return. He’s batting .227/.329/.439 as a designated hitter.