Pujols passes Bonds, now 3rd on RBIs list

KANSAS CITY -- With his two-run double off Homer Bailey in the first inning on Sunday, Albert Pujols moved into third place on Major League Baseball's all-time RBIs list and helped lead the Angels to a 7-3 win over the Royals.

"He's only got two in front of him now,” Angels manager Brad Ausmus said. “It has been an unbelievable career and he continues to add on to it."

Pujols now has 1,997 RBIs and passed Barry Bonds (1,996) with a hot shot that got past Royals third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez with the bases loaded. Pujols trails only Hank Aaron (2,297) and Alex Rodriguez (2,086) on the RBI leaderboard.

All-time RBI leaders, per the Elias Sports Bureau
1) Hank Aaron: 2,297
2) Alex Rodriguez: 2,086
3) Albert Pujols: 1,997
4) Barry Bonds: 1,996
5) Lou Gehrig: 1,994

The RBI record can be bit confusing for a couple of reasons. For starters, RBIs did not become an official statistic until 1920, which means that Elias does not consider Babe Ruth and Cap Anson to be members of the 2,000-RBI club, even though you will see them listed as having reached that milestone on certain sites, such as Baseball-Reference, which retroactively includes all RBIs accrued prior to 1920. Per Elias, the only players to officially accrue 2,000 RBIs are Aaron and Rodriguez, with Pujols set to join them soon.

• Pujols on cusp of VERY exclusive club

Additionally, due to the uncertain nature of record keeping in the early part of the 20th century, some discrepancies exist between the stats provided today by different historical data providers. For example, some sources list Gehrig as having 1,995 RBIs, while Elias has him at 1,994.