DALLAS — Former Cardinals slugger and current Angels first baseman/designated hitter Albert Pujols is making history with every at-bat nowadays. Now, he's being featured in some unique history away from the baseball diamond as well.
Pujols' likeness is one of 43 portraits painted by former President George W. Bush for a new book titled, "Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants." The George W. Bush Presidential Center said the paintings and book are intended to showcase "the inspiring journeys of America’s immigrants and the contributions they make to the life and prosperity of our nation."
Pujols met with the former President while the Angels were in Texas facing the Rangers, and shared some pictures and a message from their meeting on Twitter.
"I want to send my utmost appreciation and thanks to President George W. Bush for including me in his new book, #OutofManyOne. Monday, April 26, 2021, the President graciously invited me over to see the painting he created and to meet with him and former First Lady Laura Bush. I am honored and humbled to be included in the President's new book about immigration in America," Pujols said. "Thank you to the President and his entire staff for facilitating this meeting and making us feel welcome. As I stood before my portrait, painted by a former United States President. I felt an overwhelming sense of humility and appreciation. Only through God's grace does a little boy from the Dominican Republic find himself being honored by the former leader of the free world. Thank you, Mr. President, for a day I will never forget. The book, Out of Many, One is available through his Presidential Library."
Pujols, who immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic when he was 16, became an American citizen in 2007.
For more information on former President Bush's paintings and book, you can visit his Presidential Center's official website by clicking here.