*  *  *  UPDATED: Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 2:30 pm PT. *  *  *  

In the 148-year history of Major League Baseball, there have been exactly three players who have hit 700 or more career home runs. They are, of course, Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714). And by every indication, this remarkable feat will never happen again … not ever.

But what will happen – and probably within the next month or so – is that there will soon be a new member to the elite 600 home run club, something that those of us in the golden years of our respective lives will also never witness again … not ever.

Now this certainly isn’t to say that it can’t happen, heaven knows that (almost) anything can happen in the greatest game on the planet and our national pastime. It is simply to say that there are currently no active MLB players within striking distance of even the extremely rare 600 home run club, of which there are only five members in MLB history (excluding Bonds, Aaron and Ruth):

• Alex Rodriguez – 692
• Willie Mays – 660
• Ken Griffey Jr. – 630
• Jim Thome – 612
• Sammy Sosa – 609

But there is one – Albert Pujols – who, as of this writing, is sitting on 597 career home runs.

As every baseball fan knows, the now 37-year-old Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native spent the first 11 seasons of his storied MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals before signing a (then) record-setting 10-year / $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on December 8, 2011 that will take him through the 2021 season. Pujols’ contract also includes a rather unique 10-year / $10 million “personal-service contract” that will keep him in the Angels organization – presumably in a public relations role or perhaps even as a broadcaster – upon the expiration of his player contract in 2021.

(Image courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts)

The point to all of this is that every baseball fan around the world – regardless of who our favorite team is – are witnessing history unfolding before our very eyes; history which, in all likelihood, we will never witness again.

…not ever.