Posted on 10/22/2011 9:13:52 PM PDT by Vigilanteman
Pujols joins Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth as the only player to ever hit 3 home runs in a single World Series game.
(Excerpt) Read more at mlb.com ...
On realities side the Phils played so bad I don't think they would have got past arizona anyway.
Here enjoy
“That ones in Milwaukee”
23-22 Phils-Cubs May-17-1979
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUgRCpAzCcE&feature=related
I remember that game like it was yesterday. The first time at bat, he was walked...he didn’t get a strike pitch to swing at. I wonder what had happened if he had received one! After two home runs, I predicted he’d hit a third one, and was roundly criticized for the optimism.
LOL
Ah, yes. Just another example of the Cubs being on the wrong side of a noteworthy game. Fortunately, I’m not quite old enough to remember that one.
I prefer Ryne Sandberg’s two-homer game against the Cardinals and Bruce Sutter in 1984.
Sanberg now manager of the Phillies Iron Pigs may be getting it again, since pick-your-nose on TV Greg Gross (aptly named) is coming back as non-hitting coach and yee-haa I'm from West Virginee double-bubble Cholly as the old guy, let's bat Pence third because he did too good in the 5-hole, manager is coming back.
You are right...Albert is far better...especially when he is in the zone...which sadly for Rangers fans...are about to witness how quickly 3 runs can be put up on the board....repeatedly.
This series should be 3-0 right now if the Cards didn’t have some bad luck the other night in St. Louis.
Precisely. This is King Al letting everyone know...yeah...I am worth A-Rod dollars.
A-Rod isn’t even worth Craig Counsel dollars. Yanks need to ship him off to the Marlins with A.J. Burnett.
You can't make defensive errors in post season and get away with it like in regular season.
And as bad as Charlie Manuel might be, Mike Quade dwarfs him when it comes to stupidity. He'd do things like bat Reed Johnson third and Jeff Baker clean up...in the same lineup. Or he'd bat Starlin Castro, Carlos Pena, Blake DeWitt 3-4-5. Or try to finesse six innings out of Rodrigo Lopez.
I sure remember that. The Yankees beat my dodgers in '77 and '78. I truly believe that the difference in 1981 when the Dodgers took he series was the absence of Bucky Dent at shortstop. The Dodgers were finally able to get some grounders through the infield, especially on that hard Dodger Stadium clay.
A-Rod isnt even worth Craig Counsel dollars. Yanks need to ship him off to the Marlins with A.J. Burnett.
Sadly no one wants either player or their contracts. You guys are stuck with PayRod forever.
“But Reggie did it on THREE PITCHES! Think that will ever be done again?”
IIRC, He also hit the first pitch for a home run in his first at bat in the following game. Four pitches, four home runs.
Reggie also had a candy bar named after him, what kind of candy would a Pull-Holes be?
Pujols is great but what Reggie Jakson did was truly amazing. He also hit three home runs in one game but what some forget is the game before that one he hit a home run on
his last at bat and then in the following game hit home runs on his next 3 consecutive at bats and each one on the first pitch thrown.
Four consecutive pitches and four home runs. Probably will never see that happen again.
Pujols is good enough but what stats do you have showing him to be a player like no other, as you seem to believe?
He’s no Reggie Jackson.
St. Louis would be nuts to let Albert get away.
If Albert Pujols were a Yankee or Red Sox, he would undeniably be the first name that pops out of anyone’s mouth when discussing who is the best player in baseball. But he plays in a much smaller media market, so he doesnt get the coverage like ARod or Jeter. However, he has been the most reliably consistent and dominant player in history over the first half of his career (assuming he is about halfway through), and nobody has ever even joked that he is using or has used steroids. The guy is a class act. There are plenty of articles like this 2009 Bleacher Report.
Albert Pujols is, undeniably, the best player in the major leagues.
He plays in a great baseball market (St. Louis), but not in one of the leagues largest. He plays on a team that is always competitive (no less than 78 wins in any of his eight years), but is sometimes forgotten in the New York-Boston-Chicago hoopla.
However, he is gaining recognition now as the best player in baseball. Over his eight years, he has averaged 191 hits, 40 HR, 43 2Bs, 122 RBI, 118 runs, with a .335 BA on a team averaging 91 wins per year. He has won a gold glove, two silver sluggers, a rookie of the year, a world series and two MVP awards.
Pujols has finished worse than fourth in the MVP voting only once (ninth in 2007), and if you remove steroid-aided seasons of Barry Bonds, and Adrian Beltre (2004), he should have won five MVPs, including four in-a-row. Remember this is in eight MLB seasons.
If he continues at his current pace, he would end up as the greatest player in the history of baseball. What, you dont believe me? Lets take a look at the numbers:
(Assuming a 19 year career, which would have him retire at 40 years old, continuing at his current pace)
Hits-3629-fourth all time
HR-760-second (to Bonds)
RBI-2318-first
Doubles-817-first
Runs- 2242-third
BA-.335-16th
OBP-.426-sixth
SLG-.625-fourth
OPS-1.051-fourth
This is assuming he plays only until he is 40 years old (Ted Williams played until 42, Hank Aaron until 42, Pete Rose until 45), and maintains his current pace. Remember, he is only 29 years old, so he should be just entering his prime.
That means that his numbers should get better, which is very scary for the rest of baseball. Of course, I am assuming that he will stay healthy, avoid a skills decline, and, of course, that he is not using, nor has ever used PEDs. I can never be sure with todays baseball landscape, but I believe Pujols to be clean.
Would these numbers make Pujols the greatest of all time? I do not know, but it would have to put him in the conversation with Mays, Aaron, Ruth, and Ted Williams.
Also, if clean, he played the right way and dominated an era when so many players took PEDs and, thus, had an unfair advantage over Pujols. He is not loud, he is not difficult, he stays out of the news, but he puts up consistent numbers every year.
Because of this, when he is done playing, he could be recognized as not only the best clean player in the steroid era, and the best first baseman of all time, but also as the greatest of all time.
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