Lost in all the hullaballoo about Aaron Judge possibly hitting his 61st home run on Apple TV+ last night (spoiler: he didn’t!), Albert Pujols and the Cardinals were playing the Dodgers last night in the late Apple TV+ game, and Pujols was chasing 700 career home runs.
Sure enough, Pujols launched homer #699 in the third inning, and followed it up with #700 in the fourth.
Mr. 700, #AlbertPujols! pic.twitter.com/ccQ4DQcXV0
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 24, 2022
Incredibly, MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger called this exact situation happening on April 13th.
Amsinger said Pujols would play more than anyone expected for the Cardinals (check, Pujols has 328 plate appearances this year), he’d hit 700 homers (check), and he’d hit #700 on the road (check) in Los Angeles (check) on a Friday (check) in September (check).
Look at the clip for yourself!
"He's going to hit his 700th career home run on the road. Friday night in Los Angeles in September…" – Greg Amsinger on April 13th, 2022
Is this the greatest sports prediction of all time?@Cardinals | @PujolsFive | #STLCards | #Pujols700 pic.twitter.com/HyQlMf9oCw
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) September 24, 2022
The only thing Amsinger did not nail: he said Pujols would hit #700 off Clayton Kershaw, who starts tonight’s game for the Dodgers. The victim of #700 was Phil Bickford.
To nail a prediction so thoroughly five months before the event happens is something else. We’ll give Amsinger a golf clap for this one.