- This topic has 423 replies, 49 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 6 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
From 13th round pick to perhaps the greatest player of all time!
We’re celebrating the career of @PujolsFive all day on MLB Network.@Angels | #PujolsDay | @Cardinals pic.twitter.com/fHmTO2JiJu
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) May 4, 2020
While giving Albert one final year as a Cardinal in 2022 would be a media and PR dream would it really make the team on the field any better? We really need to make decisions based on “on the field” data instead of emotions. I thought that was what analytics was all about.
Albert said he wanted to be a lifetime Cardinal, and that money wasn’t the most important thing. Then he proved that was a false statement. He’s been in the rear view mirror for a long time. Let’s leave him there.
Well, he wrote about it, but either does not know about or totally glossed over Albert’s 10-year personal services contract with the Angels.
Me, I see some merit. A common sense approach reveals numerous drawbacks to the idea. But man, would it ever be fun.
With truly nothing better to do today, I wrote about the concept of an Albert Pujols return to the Cardinals. @KMOV https://t.co/ArrMBMam1Q
— Brenden Schaeffer🎳 (@bschaeffer12) May 4, 2020
BenFred is not riding the nostalgia wave…
In today’s @stltoday: Nothing wrong with imagining Pujols-Cards reunion, but reality would disappoint #STLCards https://t.co/w6MdzsVfIy
— Ben Frederickson (@Ben_Fred) May 5, 2020
Maybe Albert and Arte’s family relationship is not as strong as it was back in 2012?
P.S. I took some heat on Twitter from a couple of people who felt I was questioning Albert’s motives. Of course, that is not the case, as his humanitarian efforts are highly celebrated.
If I was Albert, I would be ticked off that I paid $180,000 to cover team employees’ salaries because my boss, who is worth $3.3 billion. is too cheap to protect his employees. It is great Albert did it, but it reflects poorly on Moreno.
NEW: When the #Angels stopped paying their employees in the Dominican Republic this month, Albert Pujols stepped in: https://t.co/zNDdPhUq9h
— Maria Torres (@maria_torres3) June 18, 2020
When I hear people refer to Albert Pujols as perhaps the greatest baseball player of all time, I have to shake my head.
Ted Williams had a career slash line of .344/.482/.634/1.116.
1942, he slashed .356/.449/.648/1.147, with 36 home runs and 137 RBI.
He didn’t play in 1943, 1944, and 1945 because he was serving his country as a Marine Corps fighter pilot.
When he came back in 1946, away from the game for 3 years, he slashed .342/.497/.667/1.164, with 38 home runs and 123 RBI. Now that’s amazing.
Speaking of major league players who were in the military, and might have missed some time, here’s a partial list –
Whitey Ford
Pee Wee Reese
Phil Rizzuto
Willie Mays
Stan Musial
Jackie Robinson
Joe DiMaggio
Bob Feller
Yogi Berra
Nolan Ryan
Warren Spahn
Hoyt Wilhelm
Tom Seaver
Christy Matthewson
Larry Dobybccran, I do not dispute your major point, as Albert isn’t even the greatest Cardinals hitter ever. Whoever those people are that you reference, they are mistaken.
Even so, comparing slash stats across eras is not a precise comparison by any means.
Williams’ career OPS+ was 190. His 1946 season was 215. His best year was 1941 at 235.
Pujols’ career OPS+ is 147. It was 170 when he left the Cardinals. His best single season was 192 in 2008.
Stan’s career OPS+ was 159. His best single season was 200 in 1948.What is so silly is that some people still have a case of the ass because Albert went elsewhere.It happens.The Cards and Albert where a good combo for 11 years.Why not remember that instead of being bitter? I choose to think back and enjoy all Albert did for the Cards instead of holding a grudge because he chose LAA.He was one of the best Cards to ever play and watching that was good thing.
Slash lines granted aren’t the end all, but they’re a decent indicator of both the ability to get on base and power. Some use OPS as a very important number. Even in comparing players from different generations. Let’s compare some of the slash lines, and stack rank the career OPS stats for some of the greatest players.
1.) Babe Ruth – .342/.474/.690/1.164
2.) Ted Williams – .344/.482/.634/1.116
3.) Lou Gehrig – .340/.447/.632/1.079
4.) Rogers Hornsby – .358/.434/.577/1.011
5.) Mickey Mantle – .298/.421/.557/.978
6.) Stan Musial – .331/.417/.559/.976
7.) Ty Cobb – .366/.433/.512/.945
8.) Willie Mays – .302/.384/.557/.941
9.) Hank Aaron – .305/.374/.555/.929
10.) Albert Pujols – .300/.379/.549/.928Ranked by slugging percentage alone, it looks like this =
1.) Babe Ruth – .690
2.) Ted Williams – .634
3.) Lou Gehrig – .632
4.) Rogers Hornsby – .577
5.) Stan Musial – .559
6.) Willie Mays – .557
7.) Mickey Mantle – .557
8.) Hank Aaron – .555
9.) Albert Pujols – .549
10.) Ty Cobb – .512Albert could be the greatest player of all time? Don’t think so.
Even so, comparing slash stats across eras is not a precise comparison by any means.
It’s near impossible to compare players across eras. Ted Williams and Stan played against a tiny portion of the teams and talent that Albert has, and even those OPS+ numbers are barely capable of reflecting that. If Albert played in the 1940s, who’s to say he wouldn’t have had a 1.200 OPS with the amazing bat control he had?
Albert’s late career swoon has hurt him, no doubt thanks to his loss of several steps and the shift, but it doesn’t mean he wasn’t a magnificent player during his prime, and maybe even a greater hitter than Stan. IMO.
25 – you’re kidding, aren’t you?
Did you ever see Gibson, Koufax, Spahn, Drysdale, Ryan, Marichal, Seaver, etc. pitch? Have you ever heard of dilution of talent through expansion of the number of teams?
Do you actually think Pujols would have been a better hitter back then?25 – you’re kidding, aren’t you?
Did you ever see Gibson, Koufax, Spahn, Drysdale, Ryan, Marichal, Seaver, etc. pitch? Have you ever heard of dilution of talent through expansion of the number of teams?
Do you actually think Pujols would have been a better hitter back then?Other than Nolan Ryan, I’m not sure I was alive for any of them pitching, so no.
I’m aware of such a theory, but the expansion of the game into Latin America, Asia and having far more African American players more than makes up for whatever the “dilution” might be.
As for whether Albert would have been better then, who knows? That’s the fun of argument. All the guys on your list of 10 are great hitters and had they played in different eras, it’s possible their stats would have been much different.
African American players are dwindling, as they draft more and more into basketball and football, 25.
And on that list of pitchers, I saw all of them pitch except Ryan. And they would be at least as effective now as they were then. Probably more so because of talent delusion. And Pujols should feel very fortunate that me never had to face any of them.
I’m sure they would be. But that’s not to say that the overall pool of players is not vastly better now than it was back in the day. Stan Musial might even strike out 100 times in a year if he was playing in his prime right now. The pitchers are that good.
Another thing you forget…being a lefty is a massive aid in the game, so it’s far harder to be a great right handed hitter than it is from the left side.
I’m sorry, 25, but there are so many holes in that, I won’t even take the time to get into a discussion about it. Pitchers are so much better today? Stan Musial might strike out 100 times? You must be tongue in cheek. And one last question. Why is Babe Ruth almost universally considered the best player of all time, if players are so much better today?
The dimensions of many parks Ruth played in were quite expansive. It would be interesting to see what great historical hitters could do if you put them in a band box stadium with a maple bat facing a pitcher on a lowered mound having to hit a shrunken strike zone.
Excellent points, blingboy.
25 – I wonder if guys like Musial, Slaughter, Maris, Brock, McGee, Flood, Van Slyke, Medwick, etc. could compete against guys like Fowler, Bader, and O’Neill for starting outfield positions. What do you think?
BC-I doubt they’d crack the top 5. But then again, some have passed away and the others are 60 years old or more! 😂
The great players of yesteryear are just as good as the great players of today. It’s the average player today that may not measure up to the average player of yesteryear thru the dilution principle.
In 1950 there were 16 teams. Today there are 30 teams. Many of the average players of today couldn’t make a 1950 team.Albert is the best hitter I’d ever seen. He might not be Musial and not a life long Cardinal but I have a mutual respect for a man who gave us a decade of great moments and titles. Best decade of cardinal baseball ever which he was a part of.
Idk about signing him to DH but if they did it I wouldn’t say no. Just hope they’d platoon him. lol
No need to think much about that. It isn’t going to happen. Albert cannot be “signed” as he remains under contact to the Angels. And the only way he could be traded is if Moreno would eat most of his salary, and I highly doubt he would do that. Releasing him would be even worse, as Arte would also be on the hook to pay the 10-year personal services contract, for which he would get zero in return (since Albert would have been released).
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.