About ten years ago, a friend at work asked me who I thought the best player
was in baseball at the time. I never give much thought to who the best player
is at a given time because there are so many differing opinions about what
makes one player better than the other.
However, I didn’t hesitate for a moment because a player came to mind
right away: Albert Pujols. He was in his fourth or fifth year in the majors at
the time and he had been impressive right from his first day with the Cardinals
back in 2001. In fact, he would continue to knock the cover off the ball and
put up MVP-type numbers for another six years.
Pujols played the first eleven years of his career for the Cardinals and
here are some impressive stats: eleven straight years with 34 or more home
runs; ten of eleven years with more than 100 Runs Batted in (the only year he
missed, he drove in 99); a batting average that was above .300 for 10 years
(again, the year he missed, he hit .299), and for five of those years he was
above .330.
He also led the Cardinals to three National League Pennants and two World
Series Championships.
Then he sent shockwaves throughout baseball when he left the Cardinals as
a free agent after the 2011 season and signed a ten-year, $254 million contract
with the Los Angeles Angels.
His first season with the Angels produced another 30/100 season but the
batting average slipped to .285. Then a knee injury cost him two months of the
2013 season while rumours swirled around linking him to performance enhancing
drugs. The rumours were unsubstantiated as Pujols has never tested positive for
PEDs and the former Cardinals’ hitting coach who had launched the accusations,
retracted them, saying he had misspoken.
Pujols was healthy again in 2014, and put up decent numbers (28 homers,
105 RBIs and a .272 average) but it appeared he was no longer the lethal
hitting machine that he had once been in St. Louis.
However, 2015 has proven to be a bit of a comeback year for the slugger.
While the batting average isn’t where it should be, the power numbers have
improved significantly. As of Tuesday night, Pujols has hit 29 homers and
driven in 60 runs, putting him on pace for possibly 50 homeruns (which would be
the first time in his career he would have done that) and another 100 plus
RBIs.
Pujols resurgence has helped the Angels overcome an early season deficit
(they were seven games out of first at one point) and propelled them into first
place in the American League West as we near the end of July.
While age will continue to diminish his skills over time, there is no
reason to believe, barring injury, that Pujols will continue to put up the same
numbers for the Angels over the next three or four years, that he did for the
Cardinals when he was in his prime.
And depending on when he does retire, a serious run at Barry Bonds
homerun record is an outside possibility. He currently stands at 549 homeruns,
some 213 homeruns behind Bonds. At age 35, that may seem like a lot of ground
to make up. But let’s say he can play until the age of 41 (Bonds played until
he was 42 and Pujols’s contract will expire when he’s 42, so it’s not
unrealistic.) That means he could play six more years and would have to average
36 home runs a year over those six years. Also, keep in mind this year still
has two more months so if he could hit twenty more before the end of September,
that would mean he would only need 196 (roughly 33 a season).
A longshot, but a possibility if he can avoid injury.
When he does decide to walk away from the game, he will do so as the one
of the best players of the modern era, and there will be a place waiting for
him in Cooperstown, regardless if he has the home run record or not.
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