Baseball's exclusive 700 club awaits a new member

Albert Pujols, back with his original team, the St. Louis Cardinals, was just two dingers away as of Saturday morning from turning the trio of hitters with 700 career home runs into a quartet.

He would join Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714).

It's especially impressive, considering that Prince Albert was canned by the Angels last year, only to be picked up by the Dodgers, before Pujols became a free agent.

But it was with his original team, the Cardinals, that he found new life this year, although his home run numbers are far from the league-leading 47 and 42 he posted in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Ruth was the original member of the 700 club, entering with a flourish.

The Yankees were battling the Tigers for the 1934 pennant, when on July 13 at Detroit's Navin Field, the Bambino blasted a Tommy Bridges pitch over the right field wall.

According to a United Press story, the ball bounded along the street outside the park before it was retrieved by a small boy a block away.

It had traveled more than 500 feet, one of the Babe's longest clouts. There was no mention of launch angle or exit velocity, concepts yet to be introduced.

The homer turned out to be the game-winning hit, vaulting the Yankees into first place.

But Ruth's glory would fade along with the Yankees pennant hopes that year, as the Tigers won 101 games on the way to a World Series they would lose to the Gas House Cardinals.

Ruth would only hit 14 more home runs, finishing his career a year later back in Boston, where his major league career began.

Oh, about that home run ball. The boy gave it to Ruth for $20. To give you an idea of how much it would be worth today, Ruth's 1933 All-Star Game home run ball sold at auction for more than $700,000 in 2006.

It wasn't until July 21, 1973 that Ruth gained company in the 700 Club. However, Hank Aaron's homer in Atlanta off Phillies pitcher Ken Brett, a future White Sox pitcher and George's less accomplished brother, was a bit overshadowed by Aaron's pursuit of the Babe's career mark of 714.

Unfortunately, it was also overshadowed by the racial hate surrounding the threat to Ruth's record.

Aaron said, "If I was white, all America would be proud of me. But I am black. There are some sick people in this world, or else I wouldn't get the mail I do."

Braves management announced that 700 silver dollars would be given to the fan who caught the milestone blast. After the game, 18-year-old Robert Winborne of Atlanta surrendered the ball and collected the coins.

Brett wasn't terribly enthused, venting his displeasure at Winborne's reward.

"I'm tired of making all that money for other people," he told reporters. "In Philadelphia we have this deal where money is given to a fan when a Phillie hits a home run. Well, I hit two earlier this year and earned $2,000 for two people. Now this."

The third member of the 700 club, Barry Bonds, hit his 700th off another future White Sox pitcher, San Diego's Jake Peavy, on Sept. 17, 2004. Bonds parked a curve ball 392 feet into the left-center field bleachers in San Francisco.

Twenty-five-year-old Steven Williams, who attended the same private Catholic high school as Bonds, Serra High in San Mateo, retrieved the historic ball from a pile of eager fans. He had bought a standing-room-only ticket. He could have bought premium season-ticket seats with the more than $800,000 he received for the ball in an online auction. He said he planned to donate a portion of the proceeds to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Bonds' record has been tainted by allegations of steroid use. He told a federal grand jury in 2003 he used a clear substance and a cream given him by a trainer indicted in connection with a steroid-distribution ring. And he said he didn't know he was taking steroids.

In 2004, Ruth biographer Robert Creamer said, "Times are different. Everything changes. Steroids are a fact of life. Maybe all these current players did take steroids and (Bonds) is still the one who was the best."

One interesting note about two of the members of the 700 club - both wound up their careers in their original major-league cities, Ruth with the Braves in Boston and Aaron with the Brewers in Milwaukee.

So if Pujols joins the club while with St. Louis this year, he will fit the pattern quite nicely. Even better, it wouldn't happen at Wrigley.