Pujols becomes 4th player to reach 700-HR plateau

There is one more member of the 700-home run club.

St. Louis Cardinals great Albert Pujols is the fourth player in MLB history to reach the momentous plateau, hitting the 700th homer of his storied career off Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Phil Bickford on Friday. He hit 699 earlier in the same game off left-handed starter Andrew Heaney, one inning earlier.

The future Hall of Famer joins Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755), and Barry Bonds (762) in the exclusive fraternity.

Somewhat amazingly, Pujols also hit his 499th and 500th career homer in the same game as a member of the Los Angeles Angels back in 2014.

The three-time MVP also became the second player to have both 3,000 hits and 700 homers, along with Aaron.

Even further, Pujols' 699th career dinger secured his 18th season with at least 20 homers. The only players with more individual 20-dinger campaigns are Bonds (19) and Aaron (20).

The 42-year-old is in the final season of his 22-year career. The 11-time All-Star signed a one-year, $2.5-million contract to return to the Cardinals this past offseason, where he spent his first 11 years in MLB before signing a mega contract with the Angels.

Pujols also had a brief stint with the Dodgers last year, hitting 12 homers over 85 games after the Halos released him.