Pujols gifts 697th HR ball to fan in remembrance of her dad
Most fans who catch a milestone home-run ball return the keepsake to the player in exchange for other memorabilia. However, St. Louis Cardinals icon Albert Pujols was more than happy to give No. 697 up for nothing.
Pujols hit his 697th career home run at Pittsburgh's PNC Park on Sunday, moving him past Alex Rodriguez for fourth place on baseball's all-time list. Pirates fan Matt Brown - visiting from Buffalo, New York, with his wife Samantha - corralled the ball in the right-center field bleachers.
PUJOLS IS IN SOLE POSSESION OF 4TH ALL-TIME! pic.twitter.com/UMj2W6wjRp
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 11, 2022
Matt and Samantha attempted to return the ball to Pujols after the game. But the future Hall of Famer insisted they keep the souvenir after he learned that Sunday was the first anniversary of Samantha's father's death and that he was a Cardinals fan.
When Matt asked Pujols if he was sure about giving the ball up, the 42-year-old replied: "I have plenty of baseballs. She deserves it more than me," according to Rick Hummell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Matt and Samantha Brown caught Pujols’s 697th homer. Samantha’s
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) September 11, 2022
father passed away one year ago today. They met with Albert to give him the ball back — he told them to keep it and signed two more for them. Said it would mean more to her than to him. pic.twitter.com/FuXXFiYCIa
"I think it means more to that girl than me having it in my trophy case," Pujols told Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. "Unfortunately, she lost her dad, and maybe that's a piece of memory she can have."
The slugger also gifted the Browns with two additional autographed baseballs.
Pujols will enter play Tuesday needing just three home runs to become the fourth member of baseball's 700-homer club. He's planning to retire at the end of this season regardless of whether he reaches the mark.