Although very few of us – if any – will be around to see it, there is a relatively good chance that 100 years from now, the game of baseball will look pretty much as it does today.

Oh sure, there will undoubtedly be some changes to the game that we all know and love, but it’s safe to say that Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association will try their very best to preserve the rich tradition and integrity of a game that has, for the most part, remained unchanged for 149 years.

But one thing that probably will not change by more the one or two is the number of players who will have slugged 600 home runs and collected 3,000 hits during their major league careers.

Per LA Times writer Bill Shaikin, of the 19,246 men who have played the game since Abner Doubleday was posthumously credited with inventing our national pastime, there have been exactly three who have accomplished this insanely rare feat. They are Willie Mays (660 / 3,283) in 1970, Hank Aaron (755 / 3,771) in 1971, and Alex Rodriguez (696 / 3,115) in 2016.

There will be another – perhaps as early as tonight and most definitely within the next week. His name is Jose Alberto Pujols, more affectionately known as Albert Pujols, or simply ‘Prince Albert,’ and he is currently sitting on 620 home runs and 2,999 hits.

What we are about to witness is both historic and monumental, and should be of interest for every baseball fan on the planet regardless of who your favorite team is. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

On Thursday night, the 38-year-old Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native collected number 2,999 on a line drive double to right off of Baltimore Orioles right-hander and fellow Dominican Miguel Castro in the bottom of the second inning at Angel Stadium in front of 35,879 fans hoping to witness history.

It didn’t happen.

Although Pujols would get two more opportunities in his quest for baseball immortality in the lopsided 12-3 Angels win over the American League East last place Orioles, he would (suspiciously) be hit by a pitch by Castro in the bottom of the fourth inning, pop out to first in foul territory in the sixth inning, and fly out to right field in the eighth inning, thus disappointing the home town crowd and the (undoubtedly) millions of baseball fans around the world watching the game on television (or on their smartphones), on listening on the radio.

It didn’t happen, but it will happen … and probably tonight or sometime this weekend while the Angels are in Seattle for a three-game weekend series with the Mariners at SafeCo Field.

If by rare chance it does not happen in Seattle, it will happen during a two-game interleague series with the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver. If by even rarer chance it does not happen at the most hitter-friendly ballpark in the MLB, Angel fans may … may get to witness it when the Angels return home to The Big A for a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins, followed by three games against the World Series champion Houston Astros, and then four with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Being redundant, Pujols’ date with destiny and baseball immortality (and a first-ballot non-stop ticket to Cooperstown) will happen as early as tonight and no later than the next few days. If you miss it on television (or on your smartphones), or on the radio, you have only yourself to blame.

You have been forewarned.