Pujols is "finished"?

[Bothrops Atrox]

My father-in-law saw Pujols attend a funeral of a kid Pujols knew with DS. This was after Pujols moved. After the contract. After much of the STL citizens burned his jerseys, etc. He flew in especially to pay tribute to this kid that he met a few times.

2 hours after the WS championship parade, Pujols shows up to a long-before scheduled charity basketball game at my Alma-mater; one he could have easily canceled due to the circumstances.

Pujols spends weeks every summer doing hand-on service work in the poorest areas of the D.R.

And I am supposed to believe he is a "jerk" because he wanted to be the highest paid 1B in the league during a time in which everybody with a TV show, newspaper, radio show, or internet blog has been saying he was the best player (much less 1B) of his generation?

Coming off a triple crown chasing season in 2010, the Cards offered him less than Ryan freakin' Howard was making. Of course he was going to be upset. And while the marlins and Angels offered him the world (including a post-career job; something the Cards would not do), the Cards barely increased their original offer. Of course he left. Most anybody would.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I am looking for sudden poor months by players. In '98 Frank Thomas hit .218 in a month, and .237 over 3 months after a .347 season that put his career mark at .330.
In 1990 George Brett was hitting .267 with 2 home runs at the all star break, and .217/.295/.246 in April and then went .388/.433/.673 in the second half and finished at .329 with 14 home runs.
In 1959 Ted Williams went .194/.297/.290 in May, and in 1960 he had a 190 OPS+
Musial hit .234 after the all star break in 1959 and went .300 over the next 3 years.

In all three cases though these are guys who never reached the same level again. Thomas came close in '2000 but really his prime was over after '97.

Brett, Williams and Musial were old ballplayers by then, no?

[TonyK]

Some players take longer to adjust to their new teams...A-Rod and Carl Crawford are just two examples.

[Joltin' Joe]

Was it wrong for me to hope Cal would be benched so he didn't break Gehrig's streak?

I don't think that is wrong at all. I think a lot of people might have hoped that being Gehrig's streak ended due to a very tragic circumstance. That being said, IMO consecutive game streak is a very selfish record; I cannot believe it is good for the team.

[brett]

Brett, Williams and Musial were old ballplayers by then, no?

Yes, but its odd that we expect Pujols to just have a smooth bell curve type career. Most players have a bounce-back or two.

Mike Schmidt might be an acception that could end up prefiguring Pujols. Schmidt was MVP in '86, and all star in '87, struggling in '88 and done a couple of months into '89.

[csh19792001]

I wouldn't pray for something like that, but I hope he does. Was it wrong for me to hope Cal would be benched so he didn't break Gehrig's streak?

Why would you "hope" Albert Pujols has a terrible decline phase? Haven't you read about him as a teammate and human being the last 12 years?

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I do hear how he is a pretty good guy but i'll be honest it is kinda humorous too see how bad he's doing and I would think Cardinal fans would too. Are you seriously hoping Pujols does good?

[John Shoemaker]

I don't see why you would hope he has an ugly decline phase. I can tell you right now, no matter what numbers he retires with, he'll never be as respected as Gehrig because most fans in general hold the game's legends on an untouchable pedestal. Plus, his career occurred during a time of rampant steroid abuse, and thus in the eyes of many he will always be suspect because of his size and numbers, fair or not. Just google "Pujols steroids" and you'll see tons of people questioning whether he juices or not.

I think the steroid era hurt Pujols totals because of all the pitchers on steroids he had to bat against.

[brett]

I think the steroid era hurt Pujols totals because of all the pitchers on steroids he had to bat against.

It hurt him relatively speaking, but the low strike zone of this era boosted his stats-he is an archetypal low ball hitter.

[Bothrops Atrox]

I do hear how he is a pretty good guy but i'll be honest it is kinda humorous too see how bad he's doing and I would think Cardinal fans would too. Are you seriously hoping Pujols does good?

Of course I hope he does well. He didn't do me any personal harm. He loves St. Louis and loved the fans. It was a business decision. He owes me nothing. He did win my favorite team 2 championships, however, and unless he becomes a major d-bag, I will always root for him.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Of course I hope he does well. He didn't do me any personal harm. He loves St. Louis and loved the fans. It was a business decision. He owes me nothing. He did win my favorite team 2 championships, however, and unless he becomes a major d-bag, I will always root for him.

I must admit I am in awe of his career stats and it wouldn't look right if he had a 25 homerun 80 rbi type of year. I can also see the reasoning behind what you say. I've always liked him, I guess its kinda strange seeing him do so poorly.

[George H Ruth]

I am looking for sudden poor months by players. In '98 Frank Thomas hit .218 in a month, and .237 over 3 months after a .347 season that put his career mark at .330.
In 1990 George Brett was hitting .267 with 2 home runs at the all star break, and .217/.295/.246 in April and then went .388/.433/.673 in the second half and finished at .329 with 14 home runs.
In 1959 Ted Williams went .194/.297/.290 in May, and in 1960 he had a 190 OPS+
Musial hit .234 after the all star break in 1959 and went .300 over the next 3 years.

In all three cases though these are guys who never reached the same level again. Thomas came close in '2000 but really his prime was over after '97.

In 2004, Chipper Jones hit an abysmal .214/.327/.414 during the first half, on his way to a .248 average and ending his streak of eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons.

He rebounded to win his first batting title at .364 in 2008. Before 2004, his career average was .309 and since then it's been .306.

But he's never had a three-month span like he did from April-June 2004. Still haven't heard a good explanation for it.

[csh19792001]

I do hear how he is a pretty good guy but i'll be honest it is kinda humorous too see how bad he's doing and I would think Cardinal fans would too. Are you seriously hoping Pujols does good?

Yes. That's the main reason why I'm not nor will never be a Yankee (or even worse) a "Sawx Nation" fan, despite living in the midst of only the aforementioned. They invariably wish only ill on any and star that ever that departed. Forget about the best hitter since WWII defecting!!!

No class, no perspective. I've had to live in the midst of these crass morons my entire life. Totally sickening. Consider yourself lucky you don't live here.

In fact, ironically I just read the quote in your signature. It's spot on....

"I have the ultimate respect for Whitesox fans. They were as miserable as the Cubs and Redsox fans ever were but always had the good decency to keep it to themselves. And when they finally won the World Series, they celebrated without annoying every other fan in the country."--Jim Caple, ESPN (Jan. 12, 2011)

[csh19792001]

Of course I hope he does well. He didn't do me any personal harm. He loves St. Louis and loved the fans. It was a business decision. He owes me nothing. He did win my favorite team 2 championships, however, and unless he becomes a major d-bag, I will always root for him.

Exactly!

....

[Dude Paskert]

Brett, Williams and Musial were old ballplayers by then, no?

Zackly...Splinter was 40 in '59 and his neck and the pins in his body were really bothering him extra bad that year, he could hardly turn his head to the pitcher in the spring. He felt better the next season and put up big numbers in rather limited duty.

Yes, but its odd that we expect Pujols to just have a smooth bell curve type career. Most players have a bounce-back or two.

Mike Schmidt might be an acception that could end up prefiguring Pujols. Schmidt was MVP in '86, and all star in '87, struggling in '88 and done a couple of months into '89.

Schmidt was 38 when he really started to tail off (although his OPS+ was still over 100 in '88, the numbers just looked bad for him). These guys are all far older than Pujols' official present age.
Ralph Kiner fell apart at a similar age, I think due to back problems. He wasn't as great as Albert, but that guy was a damned good hitter. Charlie Keller was another highly effective hitter who is not much remembered because he lost time to the war, had a short career due to back problems, and was overshadowed by DiMaggio...he started tailing off at 30.
Harmon Killebrew finished 2nd for AL MVP in '67 at 31, then was hitting well below his usual in '68 (like a lot of players, to be honest) when he tore his hamstring a little over halfway into the season. He was largely written off after that, but came back with 2 excellent years (1 MVP) and 2 more good ones before really tailing off at 37. Again, Harmon wasn't the hitter or all around player than Pujols is, but it is encouraging that he fought through a tough (partial) year with the bat and a huge injury to come back as a top notch hitter in his 30s.
The age rumors have swirled around Pujols for years, I prefer to assume that he is like those guys we all knew who were basically full grown men who looked like MMA fighters and had facial hair in junior high and we won't hear any ugly revelations about a fake birthday years down the road. Could the Angels sue if something unfortunate like that turned out to be true, though?

My father-in-law saw Pujols attend a funeral of a kid Pujols knew with DS. This was after Pujols moved. After the contract. After much of the STL citizens burned his jerseys, etc. He flew in especially to pay tribute to this kid that he met a few times.

2 hours after the WS championship parade, Pujols shows up to a long-before scheduled charity basketball game at my Alma-mater; one he could have easily canceled due to the circumstances.

Pujols spends weeks every summer doing hand-on service work in the poorest areas of the D.R.

And I am supposed to believe he is a "jerk" because he wanted to be the highest paid 1B in the league during a time in which everybody with a TV show, newspaper, radio show, or internet blog has been saying he was the best player (much less 1B) of his generation?

Coming off a triple crown chasing season in 2010, the Cards offered him less than Ryan freakin' Howard was making. Of course he was going to be upset. And while the marlins and Angels offered him the world (including a post-career job; something the Cards would not do), the Cards barely increased their original offer. Of course he left. Most anybody would.

Clemente was another player who was very proud and could be prickly at times, and certainly didn't always SAY the things that he knew people wanted to hear...and was also very dedicated to charities and DOING the right thing.