Albert Pujols is the latest Hall of Famer you’ll forget played for the Dodgers

Albert Pujols is the latest Hall of Famer you’ll forget played for the Dodgers

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Don’t worry, you’ll forget Albert Pujols played for the Dodgers one day.
Don’t worry, you’ll forget Albert Pujols played for the Dodgers one day.
Image: Getty Images

The possibility of Albert Pujols returning to St. Louis to finish his career where he started it, this time as a bench bat for a Cardinals team that has title aspirations and Paul Goldschmidt at first base, was too good to be true.

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Instead, Pujols agreed to a deal for the rest of the season — or until he gets designated for assignment and maybe we do this dance again — with the Dodgers, who have Max Muncy, who may well be better than Goldschmidt at this point. So, it’s not like Pujols is going to be in line for a ton of playing time, just a spot on the bench and some swings as a pinch-hitter.

It’s going to be weird, but Pujols is hardly the first player who you’ll someday see on a plaque in Cooperstown with “LOS ANGELES (N.L.)” on it and do a double-take. Here are some other Hall of Famers who wore Dodger Blue for a very short time.

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Pedro Martínez and Juan Marichal

Pedro Martínez and Juan Marichal

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Martinez famously was traded as a 22-year-old to the Expos for Delino DeShields, having been known in L.A. as the “other” Martinez, since his brother Ramón was the ace there. Having debuted in 1992 and pitched 65 games mostly in relief in 1993, Pedro became a sensation in Montreal, and then a legend in Boston. Marichal, 10 times an All-Star with the Giants, had his own stop in Boston in 1974 before wrapping up his career with two starts as a Dodger in 1975.

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Jim Thome

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Thome only played 17 regular-season games for the Dodgers after being traded from the White Sox for minor leaguer Justin Fuller on August 31, 2009. Zero of his 612 career home runs came for Los Angeles, and also didn’t go deep in the playoffs. Thome made five pinch-hitting appearances in the 2009 postseason, picking up a single and a walk, as well as getting hit by an Adam Wainwright pitch — when he got to first base, where Pujols was, Thome was pinch-run for by Orlando Hudson.

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Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux

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The Dodgers traded for Maddux twice, first acquiring him from the Cubs in 2006, then again from the Padres two years later. In his first Los Angeles stint, Maddux was 6-3 with a 3.30 ERA in 12 starts, but got roughed up by the Mets in the playoffs. Wrapping up his career, Maddux went 2-4 with a 5.09 ERA in seven stretch-run starts in 2008, but pitched well in October relief, with two scoreless outings before allowing two unearned runs in the deciding Game 5 of the NLCS on a pair of Rafael Furcal errors.

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Rickey Henderson

Rickey Henderson

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Chavez Ravine was the end of the road for the road in the majors for the all-time stolen base king, who signed in July 2003 after hitting .339/.493/.591 in 56 games for the Atlantic League’s Newark Bears, at the age of 44. Henderson went 15-for-72 with 11 walks in his 30 games with the Dodgers, going 3-for-3 on steals to cap his career at 1,406. Henderson then went back to Newark and went 37-for-39 stealing bases in 2004, and played one more year with the San Diego Surf Dawgs of the Golden Baseball League.

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Gary Carter

Gary Carter

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The Kid wasn’t a kid anymore when he joined the Dodgers in 1991 for his age-37 season. Although he was past his 11-time All-Star prime, Carter did put up an OPS+ of 98 in 101 games, splitting time behind the plate with Mike Scioscia. The following year, the Dodgers brought in another future Hall of Famer to go behind the plate with Scioscia, another iconic Mets backstop for that matter: Mike Piazza.

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Frank Robinson

Frank Robinson

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During the early part of his Hall of Fame career with the Reds, Robinson faced Koufax more times than he’d face all but six other pitchers in his career, and tied Henry Aaron, Felipe Alou, and Ernie Banks for the most home runs off the legendary lefty, with seven. In the 1966 World Series, Robinson tripled, walked, and scored twice against Koufax in Game 2 of the Orioles’ sweep. But after the 1971 season, Robinson joined Koufax as part of the Dodger family, coming over from Baltimore with Pete Richert in exchange for Doyle Alexander, Bob O’Brien, Sergio Robles, and Royle Stillman. After he hit 19 home runs in 103 games, Robinson was traded again, this time to the Angels, along with Billy Brabarkerwitz, Bill Singer, Mike Strahler, and Bobby Valentine, for Ken McMullen and Andy Messersmith. Robinson hit 64 more homers after leaving the Dodgers to wrap up his career at 586.

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Eddie Murray

Eddie Murray

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The switch-hitting first baseman was a big acquisition for the Dodgers after their 1988 World Series win, arriving from Baltimore in a trade for Juan Bell, Brian Holton, and Ken Howell. After a disappointing first season in the National League, Murray was fifth in the MVP vote in 1990, and an All-Star in 1991, before joining the Mets in free agency. What may not be so memorable is that after stops in New York, Cleveland, and back in Baltimore, Murray went to the Angels as a 41-year-old in 1997, barely hit at all, got released, and signed with the Dodgers a week later. Sound familiar? Well, Murray went 2-for-7 with a couple of walks in nine pinch-hitting appearances to end his Hall of Fame career.

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