Witness to a Legend

Witness to a Legend

 

There are plenty of instances where the word legendary wrongfully gets thrown around. Especially in 2014, the era of instant gratification and short attention spans. However, I am about to use the word to describe not only the greatest first baseman of my lifetime, but one of the greatest players of all time. That man is Albert Pujols.

Pujols joined the exclusive 500 Home Run club last night by hitting #’s 499 and 500 in the same game (Becoming the first player ever to do so). The puzzling thing though, is that so many people were surprised by stats this year and seem to have forgotten what kind of player Pujols was and still currently is. Pujols leads the majors in home runs this season with 8 and skeptics want to question whether he is using steroids and is cheating. This boggles my mind. People forget that this season is the first time since signing his contract with Anaheim that Pujols is completely healthy. When we jump into our DeLorean’s and gun it to 88mph in order to go back to a time when Pujols was healthy, we see that this guy was pretty damn good. A feared hitter, who drew walks, never struck out, hit for power, hit for average, and played a fantastic first base.

When you look at his list of accomplishments it should not surprise anyone that a healthy Albert Pujols is a legend of the game. Two time World Series Champion, 3 time NL MVP, 9 time All-Star, a batting title, 2 time home run champion, an RBI championship, a doubles championship, 5 times led the NL in runs scored, 6 Silver Slugger Awards, 2 time Gold Glove winner, and Rookie of the Year. This is clearly the resume of a player who didn’t need the 500 home runs to ensure his place in Cooperstown. Nor is it the resume of a player who ever had his name come up in any kind of investigation so there’s no need to start that talk now. Also, thanks to Jayson Stark for this statistical nugget: only three players in baseball history have a career .300 batting average/.400 on base percentage/500 home runs/.600 slugging percentage. Those three players are Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, and Jimmie Foxx. However, Pujols is currently .1% away in slugging from joining that group. I wouldn’t put my money on the line betting against it that’s for sure.

With Pujols healthy, Angels games are even more must see, given the fact that Mike Trout also plays for the team. There are not many instances where we as fans can say we witness history and transcendent talent on a nightly basis but the first baseman of the Anaheim Angels provides us that opportunity. Congratulations Mr. Pujols on your accomplishment, and as a baseball fan, thank you for all that you’ve done for the game and in the game. It has been a pleasure to watch thus far and will continue to be for many more years.

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