On April 9, 2001, Cardinals rookie Albert Pujols hit his first home run in St. Louis. Happy 25th anniversary!

He had hit his first major league home run three nights earlier as the Cardinals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-9 in Phoenix. That turned out to be the first of 37 homers in the 2001 season, in which he was named an All-Star for the first of 11 times and won National League Rookie of the Year.

Pujols ended his career after the 2022 season with 703 home runs -- 469 of them in a St. Louis uniform. 

Pujols and his longtime teammate, Yadier Molina, will headline the 2028 ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Greg Holland, who pitched one season for the Cardinals (2018), also will be on the ballot.