Albert Pujols to 700? A Triple Crown contender? Top 10 storylines to follow the rest of the season

Albert Pujols hit his first major league home run on April 6, 2001. Since then, he has homered off 449 different pitchers in the regular season, in 40 different parks, with 12 walk-off home runs along the way. His return to St. Louis has turned into an unexpected magical ride these past few weeks — he's hitting .405 with 10 home runs since July 6 — and now he's just seven home runs away from joining Barry Bonds, Henry Aaron and Babe Ruth with 700 in his career.

Pujols says he's not counting, instead simply saying, «I'm the grandpa in the clubhouse. I'm having a great time.»

He may not be counting, but we are. His chase for 700 is one of the more exciting things to watch these final weeks of the season. But it's not the only one. Here are some of the top storylines to pay attention to as we head toward October.

I did not foresee Pujols' return to the St. Louis Cardinals turning into one of the feel-good stories of the season, let alone project him to having a legitimate shot at reaching 700 home runs with 40 games remaining. No, when the Cardinals reunited with Pujols, I had visions of Ken Griffey Jr.'s final season in Seattle in 2010, when Griffey played 33 games, didn't hit a home run and quietly walked away at the end of May.

For much of the season, it looked like the Cardinals might have to eventually face a decision on whether to cut bait with the future Hall of Famer. After going 0-for-2 on July 4, Pujols' average was down to .189 and he had hit .154 over his previous 65 at-bats. Then, at age 42, Pujols somehow suddenly turned the clock back to 2001. He had three hits against the Phillies on July 10 while filling in for Paul Goldschmidt at first base, including a home run and a single in the eighth that led to the