Unlike many of these all-time greats, Albert emerged in the majors fully formed with little need for adjustment. As impressive as a .329/.403/.610, 37 HR, 7.2 WAR debut was for a 21-year-old, it’s stunning how he managed having only played three games above A-ball. Even Trout, our gold standard for phenomitude, only hit .220/.281/.390 in his first 40-game cameo; after his 40th game in the majors, Pujols had a 1.150 OPS. It was this quick burst into the majors at such a young age, along with his steep decline, that fueled the rampant speculation that Pujols, originally born in the Dominican Republic before later moving to New York and then Missouri, was a few years older than his birth certificate claimed. While the actual truth of this story remains a mystery, no evidence has ever been presented that is robust enough for me to dignify with even a hyperlink.

The Cardinals knew early on what they had in Pujols and they made sure to not let him get to free agency quickly, avoiding arbitration after his third season in the majors by signing him to a seven-year, $100 million extension with a $16 million team option for an eighth season. That turned out be a windfall from the team’s point of view, with Pujols earning that money in performance terms long before the contract expired.

Pujols landed the monster deal upon hitting free agency, signing with the Los Angeles Angels for 10 years and $240 million after the 2011 season. There was a bit of a warning sign in 2011 when Pujols slumped to a .299/.366/.541, 37-homer line, something that most players would be happy to call a career year but a significant step down from his first decade in the majors. Like most, I thought the back half of the contract would be a poor one, at least from the point of view of the Angels given that the deal started in his age-32 season, a red flag for any free agent. What I wasn’t prepared for — and I think few were — was the magnitude and velocity of the decline. Pujols wasn’t a plodding one-dimensional slugger; he was a complete hitter, one who comfortably hit for extremely high batting averages and rarely struck out, at least by modern standards. I certainly didn’t expect him to age like Adam Dunn or Ryan Howard or Mo Vaughn. The last is especially stinging because the 1.9 WAR that Vaughn put up in each of his seasons in Anaheim bested Pujols’ results in all but two of his years with the Angels.

In terms of steepness, Pujols has suffered one of the worst declines of any Hall of Fame hitter — we can safely assume that he is going to Cooperstown unless he turns out to be the inventor of steroids by use of a time machine — which has made his race through the milestones have the character more of a weary trudge than a last hurrah. His 6.2 WAR from age-32 on is in the bottom-tier of Hall of Fame hitters, and it’s even worse than it looks with half the players below him not even getting 1,000 plate appearances. His even steeper dropoff from age 35 on highlights the dreariness of his later career.