Written by Marc Normandin at SB Nation.com
It was a big night for old dudes and important dingers, as both Albert Pujols and David Ortiz went deep in meaningful ways. Pujols, with career homer No. 584, passed Mark McGwireand took over sole possession of 10th place all time. Ortiz, with home run No. 30 on the season,became the oldest player in baseball history — which there is a whole lot of — to hit 30 homers in a season.
It has taken Pujols some time to get to this point in 2016, thanks to a slow start to his age-36 campaign. As late as May 18, Pujols saw his OPS under 700 — in the 83 games since, at least, he’s hit a far more respectable .274/.331/.464 with 16 homers, a line that’s actually better than it looks given the cavernous dimensions and pitcher-friendly environment he plays his home games in. He no longer looks like he’s in danger of being done, which seems to be a yearly concern with him, and will be until the time at which it turns out that he is done. Pujols is now three homers away from moving into ninth place all time and passing Frank Robinson, and if his 2017 is like his 2016, he should hit number 600 next summer, and maybe even pass Sammy Sosa (609) for eighth all time before the year ends.
Big Papi is 40 years, nine months and six days old, and is only the second 40-year-old to even reach 30 homers in a season. He’s also just five homers shy of owning the record for most homers in an age-40 season as well, as that currently belongs to the previous only 40-year-old with 30, Darrell Evans. Ortiz is not quite as high on the all-time list as Pujols, as he currently ranks 19th with 533. He doesn’t have much further to go up that particular ladder, since we know he’s retiring at year’s end. He can still pass former Red Sox and Athletics great Jimmie Foxx and move into 18th all time, though, as he’s just three homers shy of that feat — it would take a hell of a September for Ortiz to pass Mike Schmidt at 548, so Foxx is probably the end of the line. He’s a fine place to stop, at least.
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