St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Albert Pujols tells Pirates fans to keep home run ball No. 697

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated 9/11/22

If the 2022 season is the last for St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, he's shown nothing but grace and class during his farewell tour.

On Sunday, Pujols showed why fans throughout baseball are rooting for his pursuit of 700 home runs.

Shortly after hitting home run No. 697 to pass Alex Rodriguez for fourth all-time, Pujols met with Pirates fans Matt and Samantha Brown, who had ended up with the historic ball.

To the surprise of Matt and Samantha, not only did Pujols tell the pair to keep the now very valuable baseball, but he included two more signed baseballs as an extra gift.

After learning that Samantha's father had passed away a year ago to the day, Pujols said, "I think it means for that girl more than me having it in my trophy case."

Matt and Samantha Brown caught Pujols’s 697th homer. Samantha's
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
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) September 11, 2022

As Pujols carves out the final chapter of his baseball legacy, he has little left to prove en route to an inevitable Hall of Fame nod. Though, after one of the most significant moments of his career, Pujols put that aside to make the day of two strangers.

"It's just a baseball. They deserve to have it. It went out of the ballpark," Pujols said. "We play this game for the fans. So whether they want to give it back or they want to keep it, I don't have any problem with that."

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