Pujols third youngest to reach 400 home runs

St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols has become the 47th member of MLB’s 400 home run club, doing it faster than all but two of them.

Albert Pujols' 400th home run, 08/26/10 (Getty Images/Greg Fiume)In contrast to the highly-visible watch for Alex Rodriguez’ 600th career home run, with cut-ins on national sports networks to every plate appearance, Albert Pujols’ quest for number 400 received substantially less attention.

While A-Rod went homerless for a dozen games between numbers 599 and 600 before reaching his milestone on August 4, Pujols removed his suspense more quickly. After hitting 399 on August 23 in Cardinals game 122, he went just three games before striking his 400th. The opposite field shot occurred on the second pitch of Thursday’s fourth inning against Jordan Zimmermann of the Washington Nationals.

In the process, Pujols became the 47th member of Major League Baseball’s 400 home run club. He is the eighth among currently active players.

There are many parallels between the two future Hall of Famers, Pujols and Rodriguez, born 4 1/2 years apart.

One point which now brings them together is being among the three youngest players in history to reach 400 home runs, along with recently-retired Ken Griffey Jr. A-Rod is the only one to have accomplished the feat while still in his 20’s. At 30 years, 222 days, Pujols joined the list at number three. (Note that it took A-Rod slightly more than five years to move from 400 to 600.)

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf, we offer the list of all 400 home run players below, listed from youngest to oldest when achieving the feat. The far right column shows year-day age of each player on their 400th home run date.

MLB 400 home run club, ordered by age when reached

Career rank HRs First Last 400th Born 400 age
7 Alex Rodriguez 604 1994 2010* 6/8/2005 7/27/1975 29-316
5 Ken Griffey 630 1989 2010 4/10/2000 11/21/1969 30-150
47 Albert Pujols 400 2001 2010* 8/26/2010 1/16/1980 30-222
38 Juan Gonzalez 434 1989 2005 6/5/2002 10/20/1969 30-228
17 Jimmie Foxx 534 1925 1945 6/7/1938 10/22/1907 30-229
16 Mickey Mantle 536 1951 1968 9/10/1962 10/20/1931 30-325
2 Hank Aaron 755 1954 1976 4/20/1966 2/5/1934 32-54
4 Willie Mays 660 1951 1973 8/27/1963 5/6/1931 32-113
6 Sammy Sosa 609 1989 2007 5/16/2001 11/12/1968 32-185
22 Eddie Mathews 512 1952 1968 4/16/1963 10/13/1931 32-185
3 Babe Ruth 714 1914 1935 9/2/1927 2/6/1895 32-208
14 Manny Ramirez 554 1993 2010* 5/15/2005 5/30/1972 32-350
11 Harmon Killebrew 573 1954 1975 4/27/1969 6/29/1936 32-63
46 Andruw Jones 405 1996 2010* 7/11/2010 4/23/1977 32-79
23 Mel Ott 511 1926 1947 6/1/1941 3/2/1909 32-81
8 Frank Robinson 586 1956 1976 9/9/1967 8/31/1935 32-9
27 Lou Gehrig 493 1923 1939 7/10/1936 6/19/1903 33-21
10 Jim Thome 581 1991 2010* 6/14/2004 8/27/1970 33-74
1 Barry Bonds 762 1986 2007 8/23/1998 7/24/1964 34-30
40 Vladimir Guerrero 429 1996 2010* 8/10/2009 2/9/1975 34-182
21 Ernie Banks 512 1953 1971 9/2/1965 1/31/1931 34-214
9 Mark McGwire 583 1986 2001 5/8/1998 10/1/1963 34-219
15 Mike Schmidt 548 1972 1989 5/15/1984 9/27/1949 34-230
32 Jose Canseco 462 1985 2001 4/14/1999 7/2/1964 34-286
30 Carlos Delgado 473 1993 2009 8/22/2006 6/25/1972 34-58
13 Reggie Jackson 563 1967 1987 8/11/1980 5/18/1946 34-85
19 Willie McCovey 521 1959 1980 7/15/1973 1/10/1938 35-186
24 Gary Sheffield 509 1988 2009 7/27/2004 11/18/1968 35-251
12 Rafael Palmeiro 569 1986 2005 9/23/2000 9/24/1964 35-364
34 Jeff Bagwell 449 1991 2005 7/20/2003 5/27/1968 35-54
18 Frank Thomas 521 1990 2008 7/25/2003 5/27/1968 35-59
35 Dave Kingman 442 1971 1986 8/10/1985 12/21/1948 36-232
26 Fred McGriff 493 1986 2004 6/2/2000 10/31/1963 36-244
45 Duke Snider 407 1947 1964 6/14/1963 9/19/1926 36-268
42 Billy Williams 426 1959 1976 6/12/1975 6/15/1938 36-362
37 Chipper Jones 436 1993 2010* 6/5/2008 4/24/1972 36-42
25 Eddie Murray 504 1977 1997 5/3/1992 2/24/1956 36-68
28 Willie Stargell 475 1962 1982 6/29/1977 3/6/1940 37-115
41 Mike Piazza 427 1992 2007 4/26/2006 9/4/1968 37-234
20 Ted Williams 521 1939 1960 7/17/1956 8/30/1918 37-321
44 Jason Giambi 412 1995 2010* 5/23/2009 1/8/1971 38-135
29 Stan Musial 475 1941 1963 5/7/1959 11/21/1920 38-167
36 Andre Dawson 438 1976 1996 4/15/1993 7/10/1954 38-279
33 Carl Yastrzemski 452 1961 1983 7/24/1979 8/22/1939 39-336
31 Dave Winfield 465 1973 1995 8/14/1991 10/3/1951 39-50
39 Cal Ripken 431 1981 2001 9/2/1999 8/24/1960 39-9
43 Darrell Evans 414 1969 1989 9/20/1988 5/26/1947 41-117
* active

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