Pujols’ record-shattering season

Throughout baseball there are always players who have hot streaks. Chris Shelton of the Detroit Tigers led the majors in home runs at the start of the season. Kevin Mench of the Texas Rangers had six home runs in six days. However, both of these players have yet to break 12 homers on the entire season. Albert Pujols has been on a hot streak since his first day of T-ball.

Pujols, since joining the majors, has garnered Rookie of the Year honors in 2001 and NL MVP in 2005. His batting average has never dipped below .300 and he has yet to hit fewer then 34 home runs. This year, at age 26, he leads the NL with 25 home runs, 65 RBIs, 51 runs scored and a ridiculous .775 slugging percentage. If Pujols is able to continue on this break-neck pace he will hit 81 home runs and drive in 203 runs.

Albert Pujols is out of his mind. He will be collecting his second MVP award in a row and will win another batting title. He is the reason the Cardinals have run support.

In a game where being clutch can swap numbers in the win and loss column, Pujols always delivers. For instance, the St. Louis Cardinals were losing 1-0 to the Houston Astros. Roy Oswalt was pitching a gem, only allowing the Redbirds to threaten with the right bats at the right time.

Finally with Oswalt out and reliever Chad Quails in, the Cards were threatening with a runner on first and second awaiting Pujols. He stepped up and destroyed his 25th ball, sending it 371 feet and the Cardinals to a 3-1 victory, single-handedly winning the game.

Pujols has stats that cannot be ignored. He leads the majors with 16 go-ahead RBIs and 13 game-winning RBIs, including 11 in the team’s last 24 victories. He wins games. Might as well give him an ERA and a win-loss column because Pujols decides games just like a good or bad pitcher.

If he stays healthy and continues on this pace there could be a Triple Crown in Pujols’ future. He’s got the RBIs and homers down. He just needs to stay steady on the bat. I have a feeling that very soon pitchers are going to begin walking him more. Taking away that big bat will really help other teams’ chances of winning. This might be a way to hurt his average, which is the only thing that Pujols doesn’t lead the majors in.

We cannot talk about the most prolific hitter of this new era without talking about the most hated and controversial slugger of our time. Albert Pujols and Barry Bonds are often discussed together but the two are nothing alike.

Bonds was an outfielder who stole a lot of bases and didn’t hit for a tremendous amount of power in his first five years. He only hit over .300 once and in his best year he had 52 stolen bases and 33 homers. Pujols has been in the meat of the batting order since the beginning of his career, he barely stole any bases and always hit for power in his first five years. Bonds might have used steroids to enhance his performance, Pujols has never even been mentioned in steroids discussions. Yet Pujols defended Bonds recently, telling the media to give Bonds a break and that the things he has accomplished are amazing. The real comparison for Pujols is not Bonds, but Ted Williams or Babe Ruth. He has a place next to these historical figures.

Pujols is the most prolific hitter of our new era, he is as clean as a whistle, he is great in the clutch and he even respects his elders. No wonder everyone loves him. Pujols could be as big as Babe Ruth, as loved as Ted Williams and as respected as Roger Maris.