Baseball: Albert Pujols

Hmm... Is it a good sign when 8 of your 15 hits are HR's? I would be willing to bet it is. Pujols had 5 RBI's and 3 HR's today, the last being a 2-run walk-off job. Now this is a guy we'll be discussing in Twenty Years in the same breath as Ruth. I think as long as he stays healthy enough to play in at least 80% of his teams games for the rest of his career... We'll be crowning a new HR king... and if he keeps up the current pace of 40.2 HR's a year, he'll be at Hank in his 18th season, and at 800 in his 20th

[Edited on 4/16/2006 by GiantsFan]

Dear G.F.,

I agree.

I have said for a lot longer than you guys have known me that, pending the end of Pedro's career, Roger Clemens is the greatest right-handed pitcher in MLB history. (Sorry, Rog, but Lefty Grove you ain't.) And then I've said, "That's assuming he's not found out to have cheated, which I would hate to see happen." (Wouldn't we all?)

Same story here. It has been a LONG time since anyone has seriously challenged Gehrig's status as the greatest first baseman of all time. Probably not since a guy who was only four years younger than Gehrig--i.e., Jimmie Foxx--and Foxx lost that battle when he lost his battle with the bottle.

Well, I haven't seen their new park yet, but old Busch Stadium was surely less favorable than old Yankee Stadium was to a lefty like Gehrig, and Pujols is: (1) less than 30 points from Gehrig in on-base; (2) 8 points from Gehrig in batting average; (3) 11 points from Gehrig in slugging; (4) a better defensive 1B than Gehrig; and (5) if he's an honest player, and if he stays healthy, likely to obliterate a whole boatload of records.

Project his current stats through his first 5 years for another 15 and do you know what records he breaks that I can recognize immediately?

1. Home runs, by a mile;

2. RBI's, by 5 miles;

3. Runs scored;

4. Doubles (yes, Tris Speaker, it's true);

5. Total bases.


IF he does this, or slightly less than this, for another 15 years, we'll not only be comparing him to Ruth, we'll be labeling him--and not Ruth--the #1 player of all time. I mean, LOOK at those stats which he would own. But it's all dependent on whether he's legit, isn't it? Certainly to me it is.

But forget all about Willie McCovey or Fred Lynn or Griffey or A-Rod or anybody else who exploded onto the scene. Pujols is, for sure, the best MLB beginner I've ever seen.

B.H.N.

The new Busch stadium must have been built for Pujols.. and every other hitter in the league. 16 HR's in the first 6 games there. Playing in a park like that, Pujols won't need to woory about reaching at least 600.

Pujols is continuing his hot hitting. He hit his 11th HR this season, which was only his 19th hit of this season. That means that all but 8 of the 19 hits hav been HR's. He aslo has 3 Doubles. That means 14 of 19 hits have been for an Extra-base hit. In 16 games, he's leading the league in HR's with 11, Runs with 19, OPS with 1.629, and slugging with 1.100.

Watch out for what may be one of the most memorable offensive seasons ever put up. Pujols is making his way to becoming not just the best Cardinal to put on a uniform, but the best to ever pick up a Bat... Dead or Living.

Well, "best Cardinal to pick up a bat" would mean better than Stan Musial, and that is saying a LOT, but yes, he's more than on pace to have a better career than Musial, who was "only" one of the 10 or 15 greatest players ever. And although it's too early to make realistic projections for this year, he's currently on pace to hit, ahem, 111 HR's this year with, ahem, 243 RBI's and a 1.078 slugging average. That would, of course, be by far the greatest single season ever.

Of course he's not going to maintain THAT pace, but let's just hope we don't find out this unprecedented 5+ year start is bogus. I'm happy to say I know of NO reason to believe so thus far. He's "only" a guy who's exploded onto the scene with one great season after another. WOW, what a player.

For over 70 years, it has been accepted by all but a few blind George Sisler fans that Lou Gehrig is the greatest 1B-man of all time. And I mean, NOBODY has seriously challenged that status since Jimmie Foxx's career dissolved in a bottle of booze.

But barring scandal or a major injury, you'd have to say Pujols is already well on his way to challenging Gehrig for #1 at 1B. Neither his on-base nor his slugging is as high as Gehrig's, but they're both close and he doesn't have Babe Ruth batting in front of him, getting on base constantly and forcing pitchers to pitch to him. He's also not playing in the late 20's and early 30's, which were the greatest hitters' years ever, except for steroid/HGH cheats.

I hope I live long enough to see this guy's career through.

BHN

Also, the 2-run shot tonight in the 1st inning for Pujols also made him tie for the second fastest to 1,000 career hits. He tied with Todd Helton with 3,003 games, 26 more than what it took Ichiro.

Also, with 9 games left in April, Pujols set the club April HR mark at 11. McGwire held the previous record of 9 during his 70 HR season.

Yeah, and there's an OBVIOUS difference between him and Helton. Helton's stats are ludicrously inflated because of Coors Field. Here are the major stats for Helton, in the last three complete seasons, at home and away:

Batting average: Away: .313; Home: .372
On-base %: Away: .433; Home: .481
Slugging %: Away: .505; Home: .686 (!)
HR's: Away: 28; Home: 57
RBI's: Away: 108; Home: 184 (!)

Obviously Helton's marvelous, wonderful stats have to be taken with a whole lotta salt. The stats in the left-hand column are still damn good, but they're nothing at all like the ones he's put up in that Fantasy Island he plays in. And I first began checking these three-year, home-and-away stats at espn.com several years ago. Helton's always been this way, and Larry Walker was even more so, when he played there.

And then there's McGwire, where we're dealing not with what Bill James calls a ballpark illusion, but with....

If Pujols is doing what's only been done by a cheat and by a guy in the make-believe world of Coors Field, and IF he's doing it legitimately (which none of us seems to have any evidence to the contrary of), then we really may be looking at the second coming of Babe Ruth. As you all know, I am FULLY aware of just how big a statement that is.

BHN

[Edited on 4/22/06 by BaseballHistoryNut]

Pujols went deep yet again today, increasing his total to 12, and pushes the Franchise REcord for April Homers up. He's 3 ahead of McGwire's 70 pace right now.

Oh yea, and I thought it would be nice to mention that of 21 hits, 12 are HR's, and 15 overall are for extra-bases.

Another thing to add... Pujols just had an RBI double, making that 4 doubles on the season, 16 of 22 hitrs being for an extra base. But that double gave him 28 RBI. The ML record for RBI in the month of April was tied in 1988 by Dave Winfield who had his 29th RBI on April 30th. I'm not sure who the original holder was. With about a week left in April, Pujols needs 2 RBI to be the first in MLB History with 30 RBI in the month of April. He is also 1 HR away from tying the ML mark of 13 April HR's, held by Ken Griffey JR. and Luis Gonzalez.

[Edited on 4/24/2006 by GiantsFan]

Little off topic here, but anyone notice that with Pujol's receding hairline he looks old enough to be 30?

Indisputable proof of age manipulation here: /m6z3y

Seriously though, Pujols is having a great career and I'm hoping he adds some much needed integrity to the game. Lets hope he never get on the cover of SI and suffers the infamous jinx.

Kwy, my friend, you're a great guy, but you're gonna catch a ton of flak for this post. Or maybe not. It IS funny... but only because I know of no evidence he's falsified his age records. Do you?

I've heard rumors before that he faked his age. I couldn't find the legitimate source, and apologize for the joke. I was trying to make a point that if Pujols isn't as young as he said he is, than his projected career stats would be miscued. Again, all apologies and I'll delete everything if the Board Gods request it. I was hoping at best people would disregard it with a slight chuckle. Just trying to add a less serious tone to the conversation. I don't know how long everyone can go on about Pujols dominating everygame.

Also I'm a conspiracy nut (I came here through ATS) and sometimes raise points that otherwise rational human beings don't see the point of. Can't blame a guy for trying though hopefully, eh?

Hey, man, you gotta lighten up on yourself. You sure didn't offend me. But there are some hard-core Pujols fans here. Anyway, they surely can speak for themselves.

I was more interested in knowing if there's a factual basis for genuine suspicions. God knows there have been a LOT of Latino ballplayers--the name Fernando Valenzuela, alleged to be "20", lololol, by the Dodgers when he came up, leaps to mind--who falsified their ages.

But I was under the impression they've cracked down on that b.s. Of course, Latin America isn't exactly Rhode Island, and it could be hard to tighten up on phony birth records from some areas. Maybe we'll have to wait another 10-12 years to find out. If he's fading at age 32, and washed at age 35, that will be pretty good evidence he falsified his age. Juan Marichal, a truly great pitcher, washed up suspiciously young, for instance.

But as with the steroid/HGH question, I'm giving the guy the benefit of the doubt until there's a reason to do otherwise.

Anyway, Dude, quit kicking yourself. You're a great guy and a great contributor to this place. I cannot imagine that anyone here does not like you. I know I sure do.

BHN

I was just worried that I was derailing an interesting conversation is all.

Back to my point;
This is the article that made me think about Pujol's age: www.minorleagueball.com...
Favorite Comment: "That Albert Pujols is 25 years old. Yes, he is one of the best hitters in baseball. And YES, it also seems like he is one hell of a person. But there is just no way! I would say he looks closer to 29, heck Im 32 and he looks older than me!
Does anyone remember why his age wasnt verified back when all the guys were coming up older than their listed age a couple years back? Was it something to do with Albert already living here in the US? Did he go to high school here? Just curious..."

by fatfrank on Tue Sep 27, 2005 at 06:02:58 PM CST

Also, besides Fernando, there have been many other age discrepancy things: en.wikipedia.org...

and another article (for the sake of overkill): www.post-gazette.com...
Apparently more stringent immigration laws are causing scrutiny into the true age of many Latin American players. Please note I'm not hating on Pujols I was wondering if anyone has any input on this or has heard of it before.

Kwyjibo

Pujols tied the ML record for RBI in April by hitting a GW single, giving him a total of 29 RBI, and 4 GW hits in the Cards last 5 victories.

Pujols connected with a MLB record-tying 13th April HR in tonights loss. He also had 2 RBI, which if I am correct, gives him the Record for April RBI.

I sure hope he's for real. I hope that when they develop a test for HGH, and when CONGRESSIONAL investigators--i.e., people who aren't pawns of Selig's and nearly as dumb as he is--look at these blood tests, they don't find it in Pujols' samples.

And I don't want to hear about how it's not "illegal" yet. That's because they don't know what it is with sufficient specificity to outlaw it in a way that would not be deemed unconstitutionally "vague," in violation of the 14th Amendment. As soon as they have it all broken down, I'm sure it will be as federally illegal as steroids.

BHN

I'll be willing to bet he's all natural. He just looks like he's naturally built, and he's been that way since he played Single A ball, which is why he moved up so quickly. i think he's that one in a lifetime player that comes along. And I'm glad it's in my lifetime. And seeing how it's unlikely that I will ever get to see the other great hitter (Bonds) in action, I'm hping I have the chance to go see the cards whoop on the Rockies a few times.

Dear Giants Fan,

Well, yeah, but stats in THAT place aren't REAL, either. Did you see my home-and-away stats for 2003-2005, for Todd Helton? He's been that way his whole career, and trust me, Larry Walker's stats were a lot phonier while he was with the Rockies. He was like an ordinary hitter on the road and a GREAT hitter at home.

The place is a modern-day version of the Baker Bowl, the laughable place where the Phillies played until mid-1937, I believe. It was 272 down the RF line and something like 300 feet to right center field, with a 40-foot high fence.

Everyone hit HR's there, but nobody respected the stats. How in hell Grover Cleveland Alexander kept his ERA's so low, and won 373 games, while pitching his best years in THAT park, I will never know. He won 30+ games 3 years straight while a Philly--and got two firsts and one 2nd in UNadjusted E.R.A., with numbers of 1.22, 1.55 and 1.83--while calling that launching pad home. You'd better believe he could pitch a little.

Also in the Dead Ball 1910's, a guy named Gavvy Cravath won six home run crowns playing for the Phillies in that place. He's not in the Hall of Fame and I'm quite sure he never will be, because everybody realized how phony those HR's were.

After looking at Helton's home and away stats, don't you think the same is true of Coors Field stats? If they ever did get a GREAT natural HR hitter in there--not necessarily Ruth, but say, Harmon Killebrew, who naturally hit 1 HR per 14.22 AB's in good pitchers' parks--he'd hit 70 every year, with today's bad pitchers and, ahem, other advantages.

BHN

I'm not up on all the stats and stuff, but Pujols has to be my favourite player in baseball. I've said it on here before a few years ago and although im a A's fan, Pujols is the man.

I hope he goes on to be one of the greats in baseball and i hope he does get tested all the time and hes clean. It would sure tick me off if he wasn't...