ANAHEIM -- Reggie Jackson is in the rearview mirror now, and Rafael Palmeiro is next. And before this season comes to an end, Harmon Killebrew, Mark McGwire and Frank Robinson may be behind him, too.
The Angels' Albert Pujols continues to pass big names in his march up the home-run leaderboard, each one a little bit more illustrious than the other.
He blasted two home runs in Monday' 6-1 victory over the Royals, giving him three home runs over a seven-at-bat stretch, and now Pujols has 565 career home runs, two more than Jackson for sole possession of 13th place on the all-time list.
He is 36, but signed for five more seasons after this one. It's very easy, very tempting, to do the math.
"I leave that to you guys," Pujols said, referring to the media, "so you guys have something to do."
Pujols, with a team-leading five home runs so far, entered this season with 560 home runs, which is an average of 37 through his first 15 years in the Major Leagues.
If he averages 35 home runs over the length of his contract, he'll finish his career with 770 home runs, eight more than Barry Bonds, who stands as the all-time leader.
If he averages 30 home runs, he'll finish with 740, only 15 behind Hank Aaron.
If he averages 25 home runs, Pujols' career will finish with 710 home runs, four shy of Babe Ruth and currently good for fourth place all-time.
If he averages 20 home runs, he will finish with 680, behind the No. 4 guy, Alex Rodriguez, the 40-year-old Yankees designated hitter who could be in the penultimate season of his career.
Pujols was given all of the names and all of the numbers as he made his way out of the Angels' clubhouse late Monday night. He smiled, shook his head, talked about how it all came down to staying healthy and walked away.
That conversation is for another day.
"Even to put my name with those legends in baseball before me is pretty special," Pujols said. "I would've never thought in my entire life that I'd be able to do that. I've done some crazy things in this game and passed some unbelievable names, but my only focus is to help this organization to win."