Albert Pujols

He married Deidre in January 2000. Deidre has a daughter, Isabella, from her previous relationship. They live with Isabella and four children of their own, Albert Jr., Sophia, Ezra, and Esther Grace, in St. Louis during the off season.

He supports initiatives to help children with Down syndrome, as Isabella suffers from the same condition. In 2005, he launched the ‘Pujols Family Foundation,’ which creates awareness about Down syndrome and aids the poor in the Dominican Republic. The foundation hosts an annual golf tournament to raise funds.

He became a US citizen in 2007 but maintains close ties with his motherland. He has made several trips to the Dominican Republic to provide medical aid and assistance to the poor and the disabled.

Albert Pujols was born on January 16, 1980, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, located on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean region. He was the only child of his parents. His father was a softball pitcher, who later turned alcoholic. Thus, he was brought up by his grandmother, uncles, and aunts.

As a child, he played baseball with the other children in the neighborhood, using an improvised kit. His family immigrated to the US in 1996 and started living in New York City. Later, they moved to Independence, Missouri, to live with their relatives.

He graduated from the ‘Fort Osage High School,’ Independence, in 1998. He played baseball for his school team and was named and ‘All-State’ athlete twice. He joined the ‘Maple Woods Community College’ on a baseball scholarship. He played “shortstop” for his college team and batted .461, with 22 home runs, before making it to the ‘MLB’ draft.

There was immense controversy about his age, due to which no team was willing to recruit him initially. Thus, he began playing in minor league. In 2000, he played as “third base” for the ‘Peoria Chiefs’ in the ‘Midwest League.’ He was named the league’s ‘MVP’ and was part of the ‘All-Star’ team.

He also played for the ‘Potomac Cannons’ and the ‘Memphis Redbirds’ in the ‘Carolina League’ and the ‘Pacific Coast League’ (PCL), respectively. He was voted the ‘MVP’ of the ‘Redbirds,’ which won its first ‘PCL’ title with him.

In 2001, Pujols was promoted to senior league and was to play for the ‘St. Louis Cardinals.’ He was the first ‘Cardinal’ rookie to have made it to the ‘All-Star’ game, since Luis Arroyo in 1955, and was unanimously voted as the ‘Rookie of the Year’ in the ‘NL.’ He was also declared the winner of the ‘NL Silver Slugger Award’ for the “third base” position.

By the end of the following season, he became the first major league player to have hit .300, with more than 30 home runs, in his first two seasons. His team advanced to the 2002 ‘NL Championship Series’ (NLCS) but lost to the ‘San Francisco Giants.’

He hit his 100th home run in a victory against the ‘Dodgers’ in July 2003. This was closely followed by his 114th home run in September the same year, which had him tied with Ralph Kiner for the feat of achieving the most home runs scored by a player in his first three seasons. He became the youngest player to have won the ‘NL’ batting title. The same year, he won his second ‘Silver Slugger Award’ and his first ‘Sporting News Player of the Year Award.’

In 2004, he signed a US$100-million extension contract for seven years with the ‘St. Louis Cardinals,’ with a US$ 16-million option for 2011. In the first year of his new contract, he became the first player to achieve 500 RBIs in the first four years of his career. Despite being diagnosed with plantar fasciitis, he continued playing and improved his game to win the ‘Silver Slugger Award’ at “first base” that year.

His team advanced to the ‘World Series’ for the first time since 1987, and Pujols was named the ‘MVP’ of the ‘NLCS’ in 2005. He hit his 200th home run that season to become the third-youngest and the second-fastest major league player to reach the landmark.

He has won two ‘World Series’ championships, three ‘NLs,’ one ‘NL Batting Championship,’ and one ‘PCL Championship.’

He was the ‘NL Rookie of the Year’ in 2001 and has also been the ‘NL MVP’ thrice.

He has been the ‘MLB Player of the Week’ twelve times, the ‘MLB Player of the Month’ seven times, and the ‘MLB All-Star’ ten times.

Albert Pujols has established various records and has won several other awards, such as the ‘Sporting News Player of the Decade’ and the ‘Sports Illustrated Player of the Decade’ (2000–2009).