Angels star Albert Pujols made Major League Baseball history Sunday by surpassing former Giants slugger Barry Bonds for third place on the all-time RBI leaders list with 1,997.
Pujols' two-run double off Homer Bailey in the first inning of the Angels-Royals game in Kansas City, Mo., sealed the deal.
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SIGN UP HERE Pujols now sits behind Hank Aaron (2,297) and Alex Rodriguez (2,086) on the prestigious list. Bonds falls to fourth with 1,996 career RBI.
MLB.com's Robert Flakoff discussed Pujols' feat in his latest article, and added some historical context to it.
"The RBI record can be a bit confusing for a couple of reasons. For starters, RBIs did not become an official statistic until 1920, which means that Elias does not consider Babe Ruth and Cap Anson to be members of the 2,000-RBI club, even though you will see them listed as having reached that milestone on certain sites, such as Baseball-Reference, which retroactively includes all RBIs accrued prior to 1920. Per Elias, the only players to officially accrue 2,000 RBIs are Aaron and Rodriguez, with Pujols set to join them soon."
So it ultimately comes down to timing and when RBI became an official thing.
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Either way, this is not easy to accomplish. Pujols has 19 seasons under his belt, with more 11,800 plate appearances between the Cardinals and Angels.
