Pujols sits atop list of RBI leaders from Latin America

Albert Pujols joined arguably the most exclusive offensive fraternity in Major League Baseball history on Thursday night when he collected the 2,000th RBI of his career.

According to BaseballReference.com, only four other players in history have driven in 2,000 runs in their careers: Henry Aaron, Babe Ruth, Alex Rodriguez and Cap Anson. Pujols became the fifth.

There are currently seven active players with 1,000 career RBI. Of those seven, five are Latino: Pujols, Miguel Cabrera (1,649 as of Thursday’s games), Robinson Canó (1,244), Edwin Encarnación (1,182) and Nelson Cruz (1,032). The other active players with 1,000 RBI are Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp; Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman has 999 but is currently on IL; the Reds released Kemp on Saturday.

As Pujols climbs this prestigious list, here are the top 10 all-time Latino RBI men. The list includes the players’ all-time rank in the game. There are five Dominicans, two Cubans, two Puerto Ricans and one Venezuelan on the list.

Note: for the purposes of this list we focused on players who were born in Latin America. Players who could have qualified but were born in the United States are Alex Rodriguez (2,086), Ted Williams (1,839) and Reggie Jackson (1,702).

(5) Albert Pujols – 2,000

Pujols missed driving in 100 runs only once in the first 12 seasons in his career. He drove in “only” 99 in 2011, his final season in St. Louis. If he scored 40 more runs this season, Pujols will pass Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Eddie Collins and Frank Robinson on that all-time list as well.

(17) Rafael Palmeiro – 1,835

Palmeiro drove in 100 only once before his 30th birthday. He then proceeded to drive in at least 100 in nine consecutive seasons (1995-2003). He finished his career with 585 doubles and 569 home runs. Perhaps most impressive on his resume, however, is finishing with more walks (1,353) than strikeouts (1,348) in 2,831 games played.

(19) Manny Ramírez – 1,831

Between 1995 and 2008 Ramírez missed driving in 100 runs only twice (1997, 2007). Yet he only led the league in the statistic once, when he drove in 165 in 1999 with the Indians. Like Palmeiro, Manny finished his career with more than 500 doubles and home runs (547 and 555, respectively).

(22) David Ortiz – 1,768

In his first six seasons in Minnesota, the man who would come to be known as “Big Papi” drove in 238 runs in 455 games. After the Twins sent him packing he emerged as a historic bat for Boston. Ortiz led the league in RBI three times, including 127 in his final season (2016). Ortiz finished with 632 doubles and 541 home runs.

(24) Adrián Beltré– 1,707

Beltré made his debut as a 19-year-old with the Dodgers in 1998 and played for 21 years. He piled up incredible numbers while playing elite defense at third base, but he never led the league in RBI. He did lead the league in hits once (199 in 2013) and finished with 3,166 hits. On this list, only three players – Pujols, Palmeiro and Beltré – reached 3,000 hits.

(30) Sammy Sosa – 1,667

Sosa emerged as one of the most exciting players in the big leagues late in the 1990s with the Cubs. He and Pujols are the only players born in Latin America to hit at least 600 home runs and drive in at least 1,600 RBI. However, like Palmeiro, there is a cloud of suspicion around his career numbers because of PED accusations.

(31) Tony Pérez – 1,653

Pérez was one of the key players on Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in the 1960s and ’70s. He never led the league in RBI, however. The seven-time All-Star drove in 1,192 as a member of the Reds over 16 seasons, the final three of which came after his age-41 season.

(32) Miguel Cabrera – 1,649, through May 9.

The only player on this list to win the Triple Crown, Cabrera and Pujols were the most dominant righthanded batters of their generation. Cabrera led the league in RBI twice (2010 and 2012) and has won four American League batting titles since he was traded to Detroit in 2008.

(41) Carlos Beltrán – 1,587

One of the greatest switch-hitters in the history of the game, Beltrán is the most recent retiree on the list. Only Eddie Murray (1,917) and Chipper Jones (1,623) drove in more runs than Beltrán while hitting from both sides of the plate.

(55) Carlos Delgado – 1,512

Delgado might be the most taken-for-granted player on this list. Between 1998 and 2008 he drove in at least 87 runs in each season. In 2003 he led the league with 145 driven in, the highest total of his career. Delgado’s final ledger includes 483 doubles and 473 home runs with a .949 OPS.

Vladimir Guerrero (1,496) just missed making the Top 10 Latino RBI list, but that didn’t keep him out of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. The Hall of Famer can now enjoy watching his son chase this list in Toronto.

Featured Image: Rich Schultz / Getty Images Sport