OT Pujols 3K

Submitted by ST3 on
Albert Pujols just became the 32nd player in MLB history to reach 3000 hits. This makes him the fourth member of the 3000/600 club, joining Aaron, Mays, and A-Rod.

ST3

May 4th, 2018 at 11:51 PM ^

One website I checked mistakenly had Ruth with 3000 hits. Kind of crazy he didn't make it, but he - like Bonds - walked a ton. I think his pitching career also cut into his ABs.

In reply to by boliver46

ST3

May 5th, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^

A few factors argue against him taking roids. His top year was 49 homers. He was consistently in the 35-45 HR per year range. His head, while large, never grew to gargantuan Bonds-like size. He played during the era where testing was prevalent and never tested positive that I know of. He only missed parts of one season with injuries. The roid guys got too big and usually had joint and ligament issues as a result. I don't recall him ever having a roid rage moment a la Clemens throwing a bat at Piazza.
A few factors argue for him taking roids. He played with McGwire so he had access. He hit a lot of home runs. He was very strong. Jack Clark accused him of doing so, and he was rumored to have bacne.
If I had to guess, I would say he tried them, but was smart enough to stop when it became a huge national issue, unlike that dumbass A-Roid.
He could have stayed in St. Louis and hit 750 homers, but if Willie Mays had played in a hitter's park, he would have hit 800 homers. I don't know about Pujols being overrated, but anyone not saying Mays was the best hitter (power and average) are under rating him.

chatster

May 5th, 2018 at 9:03 PM ^

Having been born during the Truman presidency, I missed seeing the greats who came before him, but Willie Mays was unquestionably the best five-tool player I ever saw play (hit for average, hit with power, run with speed, field fluidly and throw with power and accuracy).  I was lucky to have seen him play in the Giants’ final series in the Polo Grounds in September 1957 before they moved to San Francisco for the following season.
 
Growing up in the metropolitan NYC area as the son of a Giants fan, Willie Mays became my favorite player.  Even after the Giants moved to San Francisco, I’d listen to Les Keiter’s recreated broadcasts of Giants games on WINS Radio in New York.  LINK

SkyPanther

May 5th, 2018 at 12:14 PM ^

Only the older steroids caused rages. They actually were desinged to cause rages. The problem with those steroids is the time when the rages happened could not be controlled. The newer steroids do not cause rages.

And it's very hard to catch those using the newer steroids as they clear the body much, much quicker than older steroids. One steroid clears the body in one day.

And urine testing at meets, and at scheduled times, is pretty much useless as those using steroids quit them before the meets, and scheduled times, so their urine will be completely clear. "Only the dumb ones get caught" at those times, like Ben Johnson.

 

One player that no one ever brings up when talking about steroids is Rickey Henderson. Doesn't it raise any eyebrows that a guy that looked like this early in his career, then like that later in his career, may have used steroids?

WindyCityBlue

May 5th, 2018 at 1:19 PM ^

That few people talk about. I’m on my phone so I can embed an image, but look at the before/after pictures of him earlier in his career vs later. Also, I think he played until he was like 43.

socalwolverine1

May 5th, 2018 at 12:37 PM ^

He simply has never lived up to his reputation from his Cardinals career, not even close. In terms of impact year after year, if Mike Trout is a ten, Albert Pujols has been a five or six tops. Very few memorable moments for the Angels driving in the winning run, walk-off homer, etc...rarely a game changer like Trout. More apt to be the guy hitting into the double play. 

Craptain Crunch

May 5th, 2018 at 12:31 AM ^

He is a class act. I’ve followed his career since he was a rookie and while his average has suffered and he had some foot issues, he is a rare breed of a player

UMxWolverines

May 5th, 2018 at 12:54 AM ^

I thought he was going to break Bonds' record at some point back when he was with the Cardinals. Too bad some injuries probably kept that from happening.

AeroEngin04

May 5th, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^

Applause to Albert for getting to those milestones. Now the Angels just needs to cut their losses and move on. He produced negative WAR since 2016. He’s 38 now. Signed thru 2021 for 87 million more (not counting this year). As a Mike Trout fan, ugh.

Garfunkel

May 5th, 2018 at 8:46 AM ^

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times... all the hits in the world won’t change the fact that your name sounds like “poo holes.”

Goggles Paisano

May 5th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^

Why play at all?  Why should Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, etc do another movie?  Why should LeBron even consider lacing them up tonite?  Why does Jeff Bezos even bother with Amazon any longer?   Warren Buffet should hang it up too.  

Why do you even post at all?  That's the only serious question in this post.  

SBayBlue

May 6th, 2018 at 1:19 AM ^

Born and raised in STL, spent the last 20 years in SoCal.

Even as a huge Cardinals fan, I think you're crazy to want to live in STL over SoCal.

The exodus is primarily one way. Tons of Midwesterners in my neighborhood and city. Growing up, and even now, there's hardly anyone I met in STL that moved there from SoCal, lower state taxes and housing costs and all.

Pujols can (and probably did) make a lot more in endorsements in SoCal than could ever be made with the cost of living difference.

Cardinals made a good decision in not signing him. One could make the argument that Yadi is much more important to the team and especially its pitching staff now than Pujols.