The Albert Pujols Debate

[Migrant Redbird]

USA Today, Bob Nightengale]Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols is batting cleanup for baseball

... Pujols, who has three children with his wife, Deidre, and another baby on the way, goes to great lengths to maintain his untarnished image and uphold his deep religious beliefs. He doesn't drink or smoke. He doesn't have a tattoo or wear earrings. He doesn't go to bars, nightclubs or any place where his character could be assaulted.

"If we're in a hotel and a woman gets on the elevator by herself, I'll wait for the next one," Pujols says. "People have their agenda. You have to be careful who you can trust.

"It's the same thing with pictures. I'll have my picture taken on the field, but not off the field. Nowadays with photo technology, you can do so many things."

... "I see teams take their jerseys out when the game is over," he says. "To me, that's not professional. I don't care what you do when you get off the field, but don't do it on the field. You don't want kids to see negative things."

Pujols, drafted in the 13th round in 1999, lives by his creed. He is in constant motion from the moment he enters the clubhouse five hours before game time until he departs late at night after lifting weights. Never is he clowning around, playing cards or watching TV.

"You've got to stay hungry," says Pujols, whose four grand slams this season are one shy of the NL record. "I see talent that is wasted after guys have one big year. I see players in the draft getting all of this money, thinking that guarantees them a trip to the big leagues.

"Just because you make $100 million, just because people say you're one of the best, doesn't mean you don't work hard."

... "I'm happy where I am and would love to be a Cardinal for the rest of my career," Pujols says. "If it's time for me to move on, I'll let God show me."

Pujols and the Cardinals have yet to open negotiations about a contract extension, but team owner Bill DeWitt says he hopes to begin talks this winter.

... "When you already made the money Albert has, you don't need to compromise," says Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano. "He is not going to chase the money. He wants to chase the rings."

[cindyluvsbrady]

USA Today, Bob Nightengale]Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols is batting cleanup for baseball

Thanks for posting this:):clap3:

I love Albert:)

[Migrant Redbird]

Couldn't keep up with Fielder in the home run contest, but Albert has hit #33 and #34 tonight, in his first game back off the break. Unfortunately, they were both solo home runs, but Carpenter has the Diamondbacks shut out so far through 6 innings.

Albert did admit to some soreness from the All Star festivities, which I assume was from the home run contest.

[Migrant Redbird]

Many Cardinals fans will inform you with considerable conviction that Albert Pujols has been in a slump since the All Star break, and especially since the acquisition of Matt Holliday. Unfortunately -- or perhaps it's actually fortunate -- the numbers don't support these opinions.

A comment in last night's game against the Nationals that Albert is only hitting .280 since July 24th inspired me to download his splits from B-R and do a little sorting. I would have thought that July and August of this year were the worst of his career, or nearly so. Ranking by OPS, I found that wasn't quite true.

The "worst" of Albert:

Rk  Split  G GS  PA HR RBI BB SO  BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  BAbip  1  Jun-06 10 10  45  1   2  5  7 .256 .356 .359  .715 .2902  Jul-01 24 23  99  4  12 10 17 .241 .333 .460  .793 .2583  May-02 27 27 115  5  11  8 14 .272 .348 .456  .804 .2744  Apr-07 24 24 105  6  15 11 12 .250 .343 .489  .832 .2305  Jul-09 26 26 118  4  15 20  9 .289 .415 .485  .900 .2866  Sep-02 25 24 101  2  19  8 12 .348 .396 .511  .907 .3807  May-07 27 26 114  3  13 14  7 .340 .421 .495  .916 .3378  Jun-04 24 24 107  5  17 13  8 .292 .393 .539  .932 .2699  Aug-07 27 27 119  7  13 17 12 .307 .412 .525  .937 .29310 Aug-06 28 28 124  6  22 12 10 .315 .379 .568  .947 .30211 May-05 29 28 128  6  23 14 15 .324 .406 .550  .956 .33012 Jun-02 24 24 100  6  24 10  8 .284 .370 .591  .961 .25713 Jun-01 27 26 113  5  15 12  9 .330 .402 .567  .969 .31814 Apr-02 26 26 117  5  19 21 12 .295 .419 .558  .977 .29115 Jul-08 27 26 121  4  20 14 10 .347 .413 .564  .978 .33716 Sep-01 28 27 118  6  27 14 19 .311 .398 .583  .981 .33317 Jul-02 26 26 114  7  22 15 11 .305 .412 .579  .991 .28218 May-01 28 27 117  8  24 12 16 .333 .402 .596  .998 .31619 Jun-08 14 12  54  3  10 10  6 .302 .444 .558 1.003 .29420 Jul-03 27 26 116  6  26 13 13 .330 .414 .590 1.004 .32921 Aug-05 29 28 124  7  16 22 15 .287 .411 .594 1.005 .27522 Apr-05 22 22 101  6  19  9  7 .322 .396 .611 1.007 .29923 Sep-03 26 26 122  6  10 21 14 .313 .443 .566 1.008 .31624 Sep-05 28 26 116  6  17 21  7 .319 .448 .564 1.012 .29625 Apr-04 23 23 107  7  17 18  5 .287 .411 .609 1.020 .23726 May-04 27 27 118  8  18 15  9 .317 .398 .634 1.032 .27927 May-06 26 26 115 11  33 15  9 .289 .391 .660 1.051 .218

And the best of Albert:

            Rk  Split  G GS  PA HR RBI BB SO  BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  BAbip 1  Apr-06 25 25 110 14  32 28  7 .346 .509 .914 1.423 .2302  Jun-09 29 28 117 14  35 19 14 .320 .427 .856 1.283 .2433  Aug-08 26 26 116  8  22 17 12 .398 .491 .745 1.236 .3974  Jun-03 27 27 133  8  29 12 11 .429 .481 .723 1.204 .4265  Aug-04 27 27 126 12  29 10 13 .351 .405 .772 1.177 .3116  Apr-01 24 23 102  8  27  7 18 .370 .431 .739 1.171 .3947  Sep-06 29 29 129 10  28 19 11 .373 .465 .700 1.165 .3488  Apr-03 24 18  83  5  17 12  6 .382 .470 .691 1.161 .3569  Aug-03 24 24 104  8  16 13 12 .348 .442 .719 1.161 .33310 May-09 26 26 111  8  14 23 11 .341 .477 .682 1.160 .30911 May-08 27 27 119  9  17 16 12 .373 .454 .706 1.160 .35412 Jul-05 26 24 111  8  20 14 10 .358 .450 .695 1.145 .33813 Jul-04 24 24 111  9  22 11  6 .374 .432 .707 1.140 .32914 Aug-01 30 30 127  6  25 14 14 .375 .441 .696 1.137 .38715 Apr-09 23 23 105  8  28 18  7 .337 .457 .675 1.132 .28616 Jul-06 25 24 111  7  20 13  6 .361 .441 .691 1.132 .33317 Sep-08 25 24 103  8  27 17  7 .321 .427 .702 1.130 .26818 Apr-08 29 28 128  5  20 30  7 .365 .523 .594 1.117 .35719 Jun-05 27 27 120  8  22 17 11 .370 .467 .650 1.117 .35420 Jul-07 26 26 114  7  23 16 10 .358 .447 .663 1.111 .33821 Sep-07 28 24 109  2  19 18  2 .386 .486 .625 1.111 .37222 May-03 29 29 127 10  26  8  9 .345 .394 .707 1.101 .30623 Sep-04 29 28 123  5  20 17 11 .353 .447 .647 1.094 .35224 Jun-07 26 26 118  7  20 23 15 .326 .458 .620 1.077 .31925 Aug-02 29 29 128  9  32 10 12 .368 .414 .658 1.072 .35126 Aug-09 24 24 106  7  16 16 14 .299 .425 .632 1.057 .288

Pujols, after last night's walk-off home run:

Pujols said he had been disappointed with himself for "giving away" at-bats on Thursday when the Cardinals lost to Houston by one run. "I think I learned from the past," he said.

Before the game, Pujols said he had one of his best batting practices of the season. "And I had three of my worst at-bats," he said of grounding to the pitcher twice and flying to right.

"But you know one thing? I didn't give up until the end of the night."

[orayole]

USA Today, Bob Nightengale]Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols is batting cleanup for baseball

Sad world when people feel they have to go through such lengths to keep a clean image.

[Balmer Bomber]

Many Cardinals fans will inform you with considerable conviction that Albert Pujols has been in a slump since the All Star break, and especially since the acquisition of Matt Holliday. Unfortunately -- or perhaps it's actually fortunate -- the numbers don't support these opinions.

A comment in last night's game against the Nationals that Albert is only hitting .280 since July 24th inspired me to download his splits from B-R and do a little sorting. I would have thought that July and August of this year were the worst of his career, or nearly so. Ranking by OPS, I found that wasn't quite true.

The "worst" of Albert:

Rk  Split  G GS  PA HR RBI BB SO  BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  BAbip  1  Jun-06 10 10  45  1   2  5  7 .256 .356 .359  .715 .2902  Jul-01 24 23  99  4  12 10 17 .241 .333 .460  .793 .2583  May-02 27 27 115  5  11  8 14 .272 .348 .456  .804 .2744  Apr-07 24 24 105  6  15 11 12 .250 .343 .489  .832 .2305  Jul-09 26 26 118  4  15 20  9 .289 .415 .485  .900 .2866  Sep-02 25 24 101  2  19  8 12 .348 .396 .511  .907 .3807  May-07 27 26 114  3  13 14  7 .340 .421 .495  .916 .3378  Jun-04 24 24 107  5  17 13  8 .292 .393 .539  .932 .2699  Aug-07 27 27 119  7  13 17 12 .307 .412 .525  .937 .29310 Aug-06 28 28 124  6  22 12 10 .315 .379 .568  .947 .30211 May-05 29 28 128  6  23 14 15 .324 .406 .550  .956 .33012 Jun-02 24 24 100  6  24 10  8 .284 .370 .591  .961 .25713 Jun-01 27 26 113  5  15 12  9 .330 .402 .567  .969 .31814 Apr-02 26 26 117  5  19 21 12 .295 .419 .558  .977 .29115 Jul-08 27 26 121  4  20 14 10 .347 .413 .564  .978 .33716 Sep-01 28 27 118  6  27 14 19 .311 .398 .583  .981 .33317 Jul-02 26 26 114  7  22 15 11 .305 .412 .579  .991 .28218 May-01 28 27 117  8  24 12 16 .333 .402 .596  .998 .31619 Jun-08 14 12  54  3  10 10  6 .302 .444 .558 1.003 .29420 Jul-03 27 26 116  6  26 13 13 .330 .414 .590 1.004 .32921 Aug-05 29 28 124  7  16 22 15 .287 .411 .594 1.005 .27522 Apr-05 22 22 101  6  19  9  7 .322 .396 .611 1.007 .29923 Sep-03 26 26 122  6  10 21 14 .313 .443 .566 1.008 .31624 Sep-05 28 26 116  6  17 21  7 .319 .448 .564 1.012 .29625 Apr-04 23 23 107  7  17 18  5 .287 .411 .609 1.020 .23726 May-04 27 27 118  8  18 15  9 .317 .398 .634 1.032 .27927 May-06 26 26 115 11  33 15  9 .289 .391 .660 1.051 .218

And the best of Albert:

            Rk  Split  G GS  PA HR RBI BB SO  BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  BAbip 1  Apr-06 25 25 110 14  32 28  7 .346 .509 .914 1.423 .2302  Jun-09 29 28 117 14  35 19 14 .320 .427 .856 1.283 .2433  Aug-08 26 26 116  8  22 17 12 .398 .491 .745 1.236 .3974  Jun-03 27 27 133  8  29 12 11 .429 .481 .723 1.204 .4265  Aug-04 27 27 126 12  29 10 13 .351 .405 .772 1.177 .3116  Apr-01 24 23 102  8  27  7 18 .370 .431 .739 1.171 .3947  Sep-06 29 29 129 10  28 19 11 .373 .465 .700 1.165 .3488  Apr-03 24 18  83  5  17 12  6 .382 .470 .691 1.161 .3569  Aug-03 24 24 104  8  16 13 12 .348 .442 .719 1.161 .33310 May-09 26 26 111  8  14 23 11 .341 .477 .682 1.160 .30911 May-08 27 27 119  9  17 16 12 .373 .454 .706 1.160 .35412 Jul-05 26 24 111  8  20 14 10 .358 .450 .695 1.145 .33813 Jul-04 24 24 111  9  22 11  6 .374 .432 .707 1.140 .32914 Aug-01 30 30 127  6  25 14 14 .375 .441 .696 1.137 .38715 Apr-09 23 23 105  8  28 18  7 .337 .457 .675 1.132 .28616 Jul-06 25 24 111  7  20 13  6 .361 .441 .691 1.132 .33317 Sep-08 25 24 103  8  27 17  7 .321 .427 .702 1.130 .26818 Apr-08 29 28 128  5  20 30  7 .365 .523 .594 1.117 .35719 Jun-05 27 27 120  8  22 17 11 .370 .467 .650 1.117 .35420 Jul-07 26 26 114  7  23 16 10 .358 .447 .663 1.111 .33821 Sep-07 28 24 109  2  19 18  2 .386 .486 .625 1.111 .37222 May-03 29 29 127 10  26  8  9 .345 .394 .707 1.101 .30623 Sep-04 29 28 123  5  20 17 11 .353 .447 .647 1.094 .35224 Jun-07 26 26 118  7  20 23 15 .326 .458 .620 1.077 .31925 Aug-02 29 29 128  9  32 10 12 .368 .414 .658 1.072 .35126 Aug-09 24 24 106  7  16 16 14 .299 .425 .632 1.057 .288

Pujols, after last night's walk-off home run:

The good news for Cards fans is that even though Pujols may be "struggling" since acquiring Holliday, the Cards have gone 23-9 in that same stretch. The Cards were only 52-46 at the time of the trade. Pujols will eventually start hitting like what we have grown accustom to and the Cards are a team to be reckoned with in the playoffs.

[mweb]

I don't see any more of a reason to speculate that Pujols is on the juice than I do to speculate whether or not Hank Aaron was on the juice.

Well there is reason to speculate on the latter.

[rolliefingers]

Many Cardinals fans will inform you with considerable conviction that Albert Pujols has been in a slump since the All Star break, and especially since the acquisition of Matt Holliday. Unfortunately -- or perhaps it's actually fortunate -- the numbers don't support these opinions.

A comment in last night's game against the Nationals that Albert is only hitting .280 since July 24th inspired me to download his splits from B-R and do a little sorting. I would have thought that July and August of this year were the worst of his career, or nearly so. Ranking by OPS, I found that wasn't quite true.

The "worst" of Albert:

Rk  Split  G GS  PA HR RBI BB SO  BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  BAbip  1  Jun-06 10 10  45  1   2  5  7 .256 .356 .359  .715 .2902  Jul-01 24 23  99  4  12 10 17 .241 .333 .460  .793 .2583  May-02 27 27 115  5  11  8 14 .272 .348 .456  .804 .2744  Apr-07 24 24 105  6  15 11 12 .250 .343 .489  .832 .2305  Jul-09 26 26 118  4  15 20  9 .289 .415 .485  .900 .2866  Sep-02 25 24 101  2  19  8 12 .348 .396 .511  .907 .3807  May-07 27 26 114  3  13 14  7 .340 .421 .495  .916 .3378  Jun-04 24 24 107  5  17 13  8 .292 .393 .539  .932 .2699  Aug-07 27 27 119  7  13 17 12 .307 .412 .525  .937 .29310 Aug-06 28 28 124  6  22 12 10 .315 .379 .568  .947 .30211 May-05 29 28 128  6  23 14 15 .324 .406 .550  .956 .33012 Jun-02 24 24 100  6  24 10  8 .284 .370 .591  .961 .25713 Jun-01 27 26 113  5  15 12  9 .330 .402 .567  .969 .31814 Apr-02 26 26 117  5  19 21 12 .295 .419 .558  .977 .29115 Jul-08 27 26 121  4  20 14 10 .347 .413 .564  .978 .33716 Sep-01 28 27 118  6  27 14 19 .311 .398 .583  .981 .33317 Jul-02 26 26 114  7  22 15 11 .305 .412 .579  .991 .28218 May-01 28 27 117  8  24 12 16 .333 .402 .596  .998 .31619 Jun-08 14 12  54  3  10 10  6 .302 .444 .558 1.003 .29420 Jul-03 27 26 116  6  26 13 13 .330 .414 .590 1.004 .32921 Aug-05 29 28 124  7  16 22 15 .287 .411 .594 1.005 .27522 Apr-05 22 22 101  6  19  9  7 .322 .396 .611 1.007 .29923 Sep-03 26 26 122  6  10 21 14 .313 .443 .566 1.008 .31624 Sep-05 28 26 116  6  17 21  7 .319 .448 .564 1.012 .29625 Apr-04 23 23 107  7  17 18  5 .287 .411 .609 1.020 .23726 May-04 27 27 118  8  18 15  9 .317 .398 .634 1.032 .27927 May-06 26 26 115 11  33 15  9 .289 .391 .660 1.051 .218

And the best of Albert:

            Rk  Split  G GS  PA HR RBI BB SO  BA   OBP  SLG  OPS  BAbip 1  Apr-06 25 25 110 14  32 28  7 .346 .509 .914 1.423 .2302  Jun-09 29 28 117 14  35 19 14 .320 .427 .856 1.283 .2433  Aug-08 26 26 116  8  22 17 12 .398 .491 .745 1.236 .3974  Jun-03 27 27 133  8  29 12 11 .429 .481 .723 1.204 .4265  Aug-04 27 27 126 12  29 10 13 .351 .405 .772 1.177 .3116  Apr-01 24 23 102  8  27  7 18 .370 .431 .739 1.171 .3947  Sep-06 29 29 129 10  28 19 11 .373 .465 .700 1.165 .3488  Apr-03 24 18  83  5  17 12  6 .382 .470 .691 1.161 .3569  Aug-03 24 24 104  8  16 13 12 .348 .442 .719 1.161 .33310 May-09 26 26 111  8  14 23 11 .341 .477 .682 1.160 .30911 May-08 27 27 119  9  17 16 12 .373 .454 .706 1.160 .35412 Jul-05 26 24 111  8  20 14 10 .358 .450 .695 1.145 .33813 Jul-04 24 24 111  9  22 11  6 .374 .432 .707 1.140 .32914 Aug-01 30 30 127  6  25 14 14 .375 .441 .696 1.137 .38715 Apr-09 23 23 105  8  28 18  7 .337 .457 .675 1.132 .28616 Jul-06 25 24 111  7  20 13  6 .361 .441 .691 1.132 .33317 Sep-08 25 24 103  8  27 17  7 .321 .427 .702 1.130 .26818 Apr-08 29 28 128  5  20 30  7 .365 .523 .594 1.117 .35719 Jun-05 27 27 120  8  22 17 11 .370 .467 .650 1.117 .35420 Jul-07 26 26 114  7  23 16 10 .358 .447 .663 1.111 .33821 Sep-07 28 24 109  2  19 18  2 .386 .486 .625 1.111 .37222 May-03 29 29 127 10  26  8  9 .345 .394 .707 1.101 .30623 Sep-04 29 28 123  5  20 17 11 .353 .447 .647 1.094 .35224 Jun-07 26 26 118  7  20 23 15 .326 .458 .620 1.077 .31925 Aug-02 29 29 128  9  32 10 12 .368 .414 .658 1.072 .35126 Aug-09 24 24 106  7  16 16 14 .299 .425 .632 1.057 .288

Pujols, after last night's walk-off home run:

That's truly incredible. He's had exactly TWO MONTHS of his entire career where he's hit less than .800 OPS for the month. Wow.

[Migrant Redbird]

Cardinals fan feels uplifted after fall

The father of a Downs Syndrome child paid $224 for front row seats as a treat for his son's 21st birthday. In an attempt to snare a foul ball for his son, the father fell onto the field, suffering a profusely bleeding cut to his forehead.

He lay on his back in the dirt of the Pittsburgh ballpark. His neck hurt. Striking his face on the crushed rock along the first-base side felt like breaking through glass. He was bloodied. And the foul ball was gone. He had missed it, missed his one chance to grab a game ball for his son on the boy's 21st birthday.

... Tepas struggled to stand. He heard a voice behind him, felt hands on his back.

Please lie down, sir. Don't try to get up, sir.

The hands, huge meaty mitts, eased him to the ground, held him still.

Don't try to get up, sir.

Tepas was struck by the voice, its confidence, its calm, the way he was called "sir" again and again.

He looked up at the sky and struggled to focus on the face above him. He studied the man's ballcap. He could make out the number 5 written under the bill.

Albert Pujols. The father just knew. This is Albert Pujols.

Two strangers, one a fan and the other a superstar athlete, both fathers of children with Down syndrome.

Some say it was coincidence. Others call it fate.

Long, tear-jerking story at the link above. Of course, my wife still likes to tell the story of how I was the one who cried when we watched Love Story together 30-some years ago.

[QBsILLEST1]

Im one of those people who thinks he is clean. He is the mdoern day Ken Griffey for me and I cannot wait until my son is old enough to watch him so that he too can say he watched one fo the greatest if not the greatest hitters of all time hit....

I hoenstly do not think he is dirty, and for the sake of baseball and its fans I hope he isnt. The only thing keeping me from calling Pujols my favorite player in the MLB is the fact that I love the orioles and it wouldnt be right for a die hard fan such as myself to have a favorite MLB ball player play on another team. But, Pujols brings something very special to the plate and it kind of gives me a feeling of a filled void for not having been able to see Ruth or Aaron hit HR's in real time.

And he is not the only modern day superstar left to fall to steroid allegations.....We still have Ken Griffey Jr who I grew up following....I just hope that even if KG did do PEDs, that its never found out, once again for the sake of baseball, and the sake of my own fandom......

[QBsILLEST1]

And according to Pujol's best and worse OPS months, he still seems to be getting better and better, theres more montths from 09 on his "best OPS months" than there are in his "worse OPS months". Regardless, that is just ridiculous......

[Migrant Redbird]

Im one of those people who thinks he is clean......

I'm one of those people who is willing to admit that I don't know. I do know that a lot of people would be devastated if it turns out that Pujols isn't.

[QBsILLEST1]

I'm one of those people who is willing to admit that I don't know. I do know that a lot of people would be devastated if it turns out that Pujols isn't.

The only thing telling me otherwise would be his size and body type. People did used to hit like this before chemicals and PEDs. But you as a cards fan saying that makes me lose slight confidence in my opinion that hes clean. I just dont know if I can take another one of these guys suddenly being a cheater.....

[byrdz]

Im one of those people who thinks he is clean. He is the mdoern day Ken Griffey for me and I cannot wait until my son is old enough to watch him so that he too can say he watched one fo the greatest if not the greatest hitters of all time hit....

I kind of think he's clean as well but think about all of the other players that people had high opinions of but turned out to be liars. I mean Papi, come one, no one saw that one coming.

[Lt Melmo]

That's truly incredible. He's had exactly TWO MONTHS of his entire career where he's hit less than .800 OPS for the month. Wow.

That's not nearly as incredible as the fact that he's only had FOUR months with an OPS lower than .900. And one of those months was just 10 games. And that in his best two months, his BABIP is no higher than .246. How does a human being doing that?