Studious Metsimus has been reporting on all things
Mets for a few months now, but today we're going to step aside and give credit where credit is due. We're going to acknowledge the amazing accomplishments of an opposing player, a man who has taken the baseball world by storm since making his major league debut in 2001 and has become the model of consistency and excellence that all players strive for.
Today we're reserving a special blog for
Albert Pujols of the
St. Louis Cardinals, Studious Metsimus' player of the decade.
José Alberto Pujols was born on January 16, 1980 in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States in 1996.
Mets fans might be curious to know that
Pujols and his family first moved to
New York upon arriving in the United States. However, it is not true that the presence of
Rico Brogna at first base for the
Mets caused
Pujols' family to move to Independence, Missouri.
After a spectacular high school baseball career in which he twice earned all-state honors,
Pujols spent one season in a
Kansas City area community college, where he continued to mash the ball at a torrid pace, hitting .461 in his only college season.
Despite his accomplishments on the field, major league teams were hesitant to sign
Pujols. His hometown
Kansas City Royals passed on him even though they barely had a major league team to put on the field. The
Tampa Bay Rays were so unimpressed with
Pujols that they asked him to try out for the team as a catcher. Scouts did not believe that
Pujols was still in his teens and shied away from the older-looking player.
It wasn't until the
St. Louis Cardinals decided to take a chance on
El Hombre (which is Spanish for
"The Man", which was the nickname of
Cardinals' legend
Stan Musial) by selecting him in the 13th round of the 1999 draft with the 402nd overall pick that
Pujols got his chance to show off his natural ability and God-given talent to the masses.
After a superb season in the minor leagues in 2000, the
Cardinals still planned on sending
Pujols to Triple-A
Memphis for the start of the 2001 season. Then a funny thing happened on the way to the minors.
Former
Met whipping boy and then-
Cardinals' third baseman
Bobby Bonilla, the same man who threatened reporter Bob Klapisch by "showing him the Bronx", hurt his hamstring (poor baby), opening a spot on the roster at third base for
Pujols. Once
Bonilla returned,
Pujols bounced around between the infield and the outfield. Although
Mark McGwire was still a
Cardinal, injuries prevented him from playing the entire season at first base.
Pujols' versatility and big bat forced manager
Tony La Russa to find a place in the lineup for him every day and the
Cardinals were rewarded with a phenomenal rookie season that earned
Pujols the 2001 NL Rookie of The Year Award.
Pujols didn't become a full-time first baseman until 2004 as he spent two seasons as the
Cardinals' left fielder in 2002 and 2003. By then, he had already established himself as one of the premier players in the game, ranking high on most of the offensive leaderboards.
Still, one thing eluded
El Hombre. He didn't have a World Championship ring to go with all his other hardware that he had collected in his early career. He had appeared in one World Series in 2004, but the
Cardinals were swept by the
Boston Red Sox in that year's Fall Classic. Two years later,
Pujols' dream came true. My fellow
Mets fans, I advise you not to read the next paragraph.
After a mediocre regular season in which they went 83-78, the
Cardinals snuck into the playoffs as the 2006 NL Central division champions. However, they saved their best for last as they defeated the
San Diego Padres and the
New York Mets in the playoffs. The
Cardinals went on to defeat the
Detroit Tigers in five games to win their first championship since 1982 and their tenth World Series overall.
Pujols already had the accolades and respect from his teammates and the rest of the league. Now he had the ring to cap it off (and his first Gold Glove Award, also won in 2006). According to a recent article by
Joe Strauss in the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, even
Mets manager
Jerry Manuel couldn't help but praise
Pujols as the biggest star in the game.
"I don't think there's any doubt where he stands. From what I know of him as an opposing manager and what little relationship I have with him, the man seems as good as the player. It adds up to be a superstar and that's what he is."
Albert Pujols has been one of the most consistent hitters since his rookie season in 2001. His numbers compare favorably with some of the all-time great hitters in baseball. Consider his year-to-year production with the
St. Louis Cardinals and you tell me if there's any hitter in baseball who can match his offensive output:
- 2001: .329, 37 HR, 130 RBI
- 2002: .314, 34 HR, 127 RBI
- 2003: .359, 43 HR, 124 RBI
- 2004: .331, 46 HR, 123 RBI
- 2005: .330, 41 HR, 117 RBI
- 2006: .331, 49 HR, 137 RBI
- 2007: .327, 32 HR, 103 RBI
- 2008: .357, 37 HR, 116 RBI
- 2009: .327, 47 HR, 135 RBI
If you take his "worst" numbers for each offensive category mentioned above (if you can call it worst), he's never hit less than .314 and never had less than 32 HR and 103 RBI. What player wouldn't take a season like that? And that's the
LEAST you can expect from
Pujols!
So why is
Studious Metsimus naming
Albert Pujols as its Player of The Decade? If what you've read so far is not enough, ponder this.
For the decade of the '00s, (I know some people say the decade lasts from 2001-2010, but for this blog, let's just use the 10-year span from '00 to '09.)
Albert Pujols led the National League in all three Triple Crown categories (batting average, home runs, runs batted in). Very few players even challenged him in those three categories.
Pujols hit .334 over the past decade with 366 HR and 1,112 RBI. The runners-up in each category are
Todd Helton (.331 average),
Adam Dunn (316 HR) and
Lance Berkman (1,026 RBI). Please note that
Berkman is almost 100 RBI behind
Pujols but he played all ten years from 2000-2009, whereas
Pujols was still in the minors in 2000, making
Albert's RBI output all the more impressive.
His work on the field has been wonderful, but his work off the field is just as special, if not more special. In 2005, along with his wife
Deidre, the couple started the
Pujols Family Foundation, which serves to help people living with Down syndrome and their families. The foundation also helps raise money for the poor in
Pujols' native Dominican Republic.
Note: For more information and to donate to the foundation, please click here: Pujols Family Foundation.
Multiple MVP Awards, two NL pennants, one World Series championship, the Gold Glove in 2006 and the Triple Crown winner for the decade of the '00s. It all adds up to a well-deserved Player of The Decade honor from
Studious Metsimus to
José Alberto Pujols.Just think,
Mets fans. Had the
Mets' scouts noticed
Pujols before the
Cardinals did in the 13th round of the 1999 baseball draft, we wouldn't have to be wondering who our first baseman would be in 2010. Look how many players have spent significant time at first base for the
Mets since 2001:
Todd Zeile, Mo Vaughn, Jason Phillips, Mike Piazza, Doug Mientkiewicz, Carlos Delgado and
Daniel Murphy. All those years without a steady first baseman (other than
Delgado) while the
Cardinals have employed the dictionary definition of steady.
Congratulations to
El Hombre, the steady
Albert Pujols for his
Studious Metsimus Player of The Decade honor. Since
Pujols won't turn 30 until January, don't be surprised if another Player of The Decade honor is bestowed upon him for the decade of the '10s. That's consistency. That's a Hall-of-Famer. That's
Albert Pujols.
