December 27, 2024

Sports bettors went wild for Albert Pujols after his improbable upset of Kyle Schwarber at the Home Run Derby

Albert Pujols #AlbertPujols

Midway through his first round matchup against Kyle Schwarber during Monday’s Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium, a field full of Major League All-Stars began crowding around 42-year-old Albert Pujols during a time out.

Pujols was reeling, or so it looked, with one home run in the first 56 seconds of his at-bat. It sure seemed like MLB’s finest were getting ready to send off one of their own. Then the darnedest thing happened. Pujols start planting balls over the fence in the outfield. Again. And again. And before he knew it, he was in overtime with Schwarber, the No. 1 overall seed, tied at 13 dingers apiece.

A one-minute swing-off yielded seven more homers as Pujols sent Schwarber home shockingly early.

Albert was a +260 underdog. Schwarber was a -400 favorite. Baseball fans called the matchup a bye for the Phillies slugger.

Oops.

Bettors couldn’t believe it.

Pujols lost in the second round to Juan Soto (the eventual Derby champ at +470), but that won’t be remembered as much as his upset of Schwarber. What a moment for the future Hall of Famer.

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