11.19.2008

136. Prince Albert Is King

The best baseball player on Earth just might be the first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Obviously, it's debatable. And debatable just means it's possible. How good is Albert Pujols, just named MVP of the National League for this past season? Let Jayson Stark of ESPN tell you -

Meanwhile, you'll be hearing lots of talk about how the winner of this election (NL MVP voting), Albert Pujols, has now won two MVP awards. Which is great, of course. But what blows us away is that he very easily could have won SEVEN of them.

Pujols has now played eight major league seasons. He has finished in the top 5 in MVP voting in seven of those seasons. Seven.


If you are a baseball fan, you owe it to yourself to watch Pujols when you can. We are witnessing a once in a generation kind of player.

At least.

1 comment:

Bob Wingate said...

My "local connection"...
Albert Pujols attended Fort Osage High School in my hometown - same city, but two school districts to the northeast of my district (Raytown).

An entry from Wikipedia:

"Pujols and his family immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 1996, first to New York City. In New York, the Pujols family realized that the Big Apple was not a place they wanted to live. One day, Albert had seen a man shot to death while running an errand. His grandmother demanded that they move to somewhere safe. They then settled in a Dominican enclave in the Independence, Missouri area. In the U.S., Pujols displayed his love for baseball, batting over .500 in his first season of baseball at Fort Osage High School in Independence. He hit .660 with eight home runs his final year of high school. At Fort Osage, Pujols earned all-state honors in baseball twice. After starring for Fort Osage, Pujols graduated from high school in December 1998. He went on to attend Maple Woods Community College in the Kansas City area during the spring of 1999. In his only season with the community college, Pujols hit a grand slam and turned an unassisted triple play in his first game.[7] He batted .461 for the year."

Hmmm...maybe I ought to see if Fort Osage is putting on a school play or something, buy a ticket, and then wander around to see if there are any Albert Pujols trophies on display.