Albert Pujols' journey to 3,000 hits captured in one incredible infographic

Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols became the 32rd member of Major League Baseball’s 3,000 hit club Friday night in Seattle. Pujols reached the milestone with a broken bat single that dropped softly into right field.

It wasn’t the hardest hit ball during Pujols’ incredible career. Nor was it his prettiest hit. But it counted just the same as the 2,999 that came before it.

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Speaking of all those hits, Daren Willman, the Director of Baseball Research and Development for MLB, put together a pretty incredible spray chart infographic that captures Pujols’ 18-season journey from hit No. 1, to his milestone 3,000th.

Of course Pujols’ official total is now 3,001 after he added a two-run single in the ninth inning of the Angels 5-0 win. His first 2,073 career hits came as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. His very first was a ground ball single against then Colorado Rockies left-hander Mike Hampton on April 2, 2001, at Coors Field.

In between one and 3,000 were 620 home runs, which puts Pujols in an even more exclusive group.

He’s also collected 626 career doubles, which is 11th all-time, and 16 triples.

Pujols has enjoyed a truly special career. One that will certainly lead him to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Nothing puts that into perspective better than seeing his first 3,000 hits come to life in one incredible spray chart.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Yahoo Sports Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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