José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (Spanish pronunciation: [puˈxols]; born January 16, 1980) is a Dominican-American professional baseball manager and former first baseman and designated hitter who is the manager of the Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Professional Baseball League. He played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim / Los Angeles Angels, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Nicknamed "the Machine" (Spanish: La Máquina), Pujols is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

Pujols was a highly regarded hitter who possessed a "combination of contact hitting ability, patience and raw power." He was the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2005, 2008, and 2009 and is an 11-time All-Star (2001, 2003–2010, 2015, 2022). He was a six-time Silver Slugger and won two Gold Glove awards at first base in his career. Pujols twice led the NL in home runs and once each in batting average, doubles, and runs batted in (RBIs). Pujols surpassed 3,000 career hits, becoming the 32nd MLB player to reach that milestone. During his final season, Pujols moved into second place all-time for career RBIs and total bases and became the fourth player with 700 career home runs.

Pujols was born and raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, mostly by his grandmother, America Pujols, and 10 of his uncles and aunts. He is an only child. His father, Bienvenido Pujols, was a softball pitcher who struggled with alcoholism. Pujols often had to take his father home when he got drunk following games. Growing up, Pujols practiced baseball using limes for balls and a milk carton for a glove. Pujols, his father, and his grandmother immigrated in 1996 to Washington Heights in New York City, where Pujols witnessed a shooting at a bodega. Partly because of the shooting, they moved two months later to Independence, Missouri, to join some relatives.

Pujols played baseball at Fort Osage High School in Independence and was named an All-State athlete twice. As a senior, he was walked 55 times intentionally, but he still hit eight home runs in 33 at-bats. One of his home runs travelled 450 feet (140 m).

After graduating from high school a semester early in December 1998, he was given a baseball scholarship to Maple Woods Community College. Pujols hit a grand slam and turned an unassisted triple play in the first game of his only college season. Playing shortstop, he batted .461 with 22 home runs as a freshman before deciding to enter the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft.

Few teams were interested in Pujols because of uncertainty about his age, which position he would play, and his build. Tampa Bay Rays scout Fernando Arango recommended that his team sign Pujols, and quit his job when Tampa Bay failed to do so. Pujols was not drafted until the 13th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft, when the St. Louis Cardinals selected him with the 402nd overall pick. Pujols initially turned down a $10,000 bonus and spent the summer playing for the Hays Larks of the Jayhawk Collegiate League (a summer league in the National Baseball Congress). When the Cardinals increased their bonus offer to $60,000, he signed.

Pujols began his minor league career in 2000 playing third base with the Peoria Chiefs of the single-A Midwest League. He batted .324 with 128 hits, 32 doubles, six triples, 17 home runs and 84 RBI, in 109 games. He was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and named to the All-Star team. Pujols also played 21 games with the Potomac Cannons in the high-A Carolina League that year, batting .284 with 23 hits, nine doubles, one triple, two home runs and 10 RBI. He finished the 2000 season with the Memphis Redbirds in the AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL), and after appearing in three regular season games with them, he batted .367 in the playoffs and was named the postseason Most Valuable Player (MVP) as the Redbirds won their first PCL title.

During spring training in 2001, incumbent first baseman Mark McGwire told Cardinals manager Tony La Russa that if he did not promote Pujols to the major league roster, "it might be one of the worst moves you make in your career." La Russa later recounted the "myth" that Pujols only made the Opening Day roster in 2001 because Bobby Bonilla was injured. According to La Russa, he and the rest of Cardinals management were impressed enough by Pujols that they decided to promote him to the big league club even before Bonilla's injury. Cardinals executive John Vuch backed this up, calling the link between Pujols and Bonilla an "old wives' tale" and stating that the competition for the last roster spot was actually between Bonilla and John Mabry. Although the team did not require Pujols to fill any particular position, the Cardinals activated him to the Opening Day roster, and he started all season at third base, right field, left field, or first base.