On May 4, in the fifth inning of a game at Safeco Field against the Seattle Mariners, Albert Pujols flared a single into right field, a common act freighted with uncommon meaning. Teammates streamed from the visitors dugout and mobbed him in the infield, a celebration of his 3,000th hit. The game stopped, in a visiting park, to recognize Pujols.
The milestone continued a relative spate of 3,000th hits. Each of the past four seasons — starting with Alex Rodriguez in 2015, followed Ichiro Suzuki, Adrian Beltre and Pujols — have seen a player reach the plateau, the first time in baseball history players reached 3,000 hits in four consecutive years.