Alexander: Dodgers’ Bickford, Heaney on wrong side of Albert Pujols’ historic night

LOS ANGELES — For every triumph in sports, there is a defeat. But then there are times when that ignominy gets you in the record book.

Thus it was that Dodgers relief pitcher Phil Bickford entered an exclusive club Friday night.

Only four pitchers have given up a 700th career home run in major league history. Tommy Bridges, a right-hander who pitched 16 seasons in the majors, gave up Babe Ruth’s 700th home run in 1934; that season Bridges was an All-Star and won 22 games. Ken Brett, who pitched 14 seasons in the majors, gave up Henry Aaron’s 700th in 1973; Dodger Al Downing would give up the more important one the next April, the one that broke Babe Ruth’s record.

Jake Peavy of the Padres surrendered Barry Bonds’ 700th in 2004, though it was the Washington Nationals’ Mike Bacsik who gave up Bonds’ record 756th homer, passing Aaron, three seasons later. Peavy had a solid 15-year career. Bacsik won 10 games in five seasons and was out of baseball a year later.

So where does Bickford, and for that matter Andrew Heaney, fall in that spectrum?

Heaney gave up Albert Pujols’ home run 699 in the third inning of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 11-0 victory over the Dodgers on Friday night, a two-run missile into the left field pavilion that traveled 434 feet on a four-seamer over the middle. Then Bickford, who replaced Heaney in the fourth just before Pujols stepped to the plate, became that fourth pitcher to give up a 700th career homer when he hung a slider and Pujols sent a 389-foot bomb into the pavilion for a three-run homer and a 5-0 lead.

There were, of course, wildly conflicting emotions attached to each. Dodger fans saluted Pujols before Friday night’s game as pretty much one of their own, with standing ovations before the game and again after the milestone home run. And Pujols said both before and after the game that his five months with the Dodgers in 2021, after being released by the Angels, allowed him to rediscover the joy of his profession, which led to one final year with the Cardinals.

Also, Heaney and Bickford were both former teammates of Pujols, Bickford last year with the Dodgers and Heaney with the Angels from 2015 through 2020.

“At first, I was upset that I gave up the home run,” said Bickford, who hung a slider for the historic hit. “And then when the crowd reacted and seeing all the smiles, it was a very cool moment for MLB.

“And Albert Pujols is also one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. Yeah, after I got over being upset at giving up the home run, it was obviously a special moment.”

Heaney has experienced these moments before, but as a teammate: Pujols’ 3,000th hit and 600th home run, both as an Angel.

“I think anybody who’s played with A.P. knows, any time you think he maybe can’t do something, he’s going to do it,” Heaney said. “I mean, that’s just how good he is. He has that ability.

“So I think as I step back it’ll be a little bit cooler for me. But right now it’s like kind of a sore spot. I’ll appreciate it a little differently here in the coming days.”

I asked Heaney what his thought was when the ball left the bat. He went back a nanosecond further.

“My reaction was when it left my hand,” he said. “I knew it was going right down the middle, and that’s not good (against) him. So, I mean, he got it. Two-strike pitch, I was trying to go up and just kind of yanked it down right down the middle. He’s not going to miss those.”

Heaney was the setup guy in this case, giving up the home run that led to the home run. Bickford, who is in his second season with the Dodgers and is struggling to find the consistency he displayed last year after L.A. claimed him on waivers from Milwaukee in May, will go down in history.

Or at least as a home run trivia answer.

“I’m not really thinking about it that way,” Bickford said. “I’m more just happy for Albert doing his accomplishment. It speaks for itself. I really can’t put it into words.”

As we said, conflicting emotions. Bickford was asked about having been Pujols’ teammate last year – and if you were Pujols’ teammate, he drew you in.

“He’s the nicest guy ever,” Bickford said. “He’s a big old teddy bear. He’s someone that you just have nothing but great things to say about. He’s a very kind person. And anybody that meets him, I’m sure, would say the same thing.

“I’m just going to wait for the moment” before striking up a conversation the rest of the weekend, he said. “I’m sure it’s going to involve a lot of smiles from his side, and I would just feed off the energy of what he accomplished. It’s an absolutely incredible accomplishment. And yeah, I mean, you have to respect it.”

It is probably just as well that the Dodgers clinched their division more than a week ago and have a pretty commanding lead for the best overall record and home-field advantage through the postseason (5½ games over Houston). Manager Dave Roberts wasn’t happy about the loss, but it was easier to put things in perspective.

“This is like the Mount Rushmore of sluggers,” Roberts said. “So to reach that 700 home run mark is remarkable.

“Obviously, you want to win every game. But there are times when a person, a player of his magnitude, trumps the opposing uniform. (Friday) night was one of those moments that our fans cheered him and applauded him when he reached 700. And that’s the way it should be.”

If it’s any consolation, the Dodgers were beneficiaries of 12 of those Pujols home runs in 85 games last season.

And, in addition to the remainder of this weekend, there’s always the chance that they might see Pujols and the Cardinals again in the postseason. By then, presumably, their emotions will not be in conflict.

jalexander@scng.com

No doubt about number 699 for #AlbertPujols! pic.twitter.com/2Ns3ueuzcn

— MLB (@MLB) September 24, 2022

7️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ #Pujols700 pic.twitter.com/XyddSFPpcQ

— MLB (@MLB) September 24, 2022