Pujols, a Unanimous Choice, Joins Select Company With Third MVP
Albert Pujols said he did not think about his place in history. He does not worry about how many home runs he will hit or individual awards he will win. When he is finished playing, there will be time for all that.
“Obviously, I want to be a Hall of Famer,” Pujols said. “There’s still a long way to go.”
For another two months, Pujols is 29 years old. As he begins his prime, Pujols is entering velvet-rope territory, a realm occupied by only the sport’s elite. Nine other players have won as many as three Most Valuable Player awards, and all but Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez, who will be eligible for consideration, are enshrined in Cooperstown. Only two — Bonds and Stan Musial, a fellow Cardinal — had captured three before turning 30.
On Tuesday, Pujols won his third National League M.V.P. award, collecting all 32 first-place votes to become the first unanimous M.V.P. — and seventh over all — since Bonds in 2002.
At the beginning of this decade, Bonds owned the category, winning four straight from 2001-4. But Pujols, who finished second to Bonds in 2002 and 2003, has since taken over as the best player in the N.L., winning all three of his M.V.P.’s — including the last two — over the past five seasons. His next award would vault him into second all-time behind Bonds, who has seven.
“There’s so many great players out there — Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Chase Utley,” Pujols said on a conference call. “When I get to spring training, I don’t think about the M.V.P. I just pray to God and try to stay healthy. I’m sure that every year there’s going to be great competition and it’s going to be a great race.”
It was hardly a race this time, with Pujols leading the N.L. in total bases, extra-base hits, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs and, for the first time, home runs, to key the St. Louis Cardinals’ division title. Hanley Ramirez of Florida finished a distant second, 215 points behind Pujols, with Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard, Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder and Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki rounding out the top five.
In 2001, when Pujols was selected as the N.L.’s top rookie, he did not even begin the year on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster. He has since averaged .334 with 42 homers, 129 runs batted in and a 1.055 O.P.S., a show of consistent dominance that has lifted him into select company. No one has hit more homers through his first nine seasons than Pujols (366). Only Ted Williams scored more runs, and only the Hall of Famers Al Simmons and Earl Averill had more hits. The four players with a higher combined on-base and slugging percentage are all considered the game’s greats: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx.
Among the stars of this era, players like Ken Griffey Jr. and Rodriguez, Pujols at this stage of his career has surpassed them all. The noted baseball analyst and author Bill James conceived a method to compare current players to those throughout history called a similarity score. Baseball-Reference.com adapted James’s methodology and found that through his age 29 season Pujols profiles most closely to Foxx, who debuted as a 17-year-old in 1925. The next three are Hank Aaron, Gehrig and Griffey.
“Sometimes we get carried away in superlatives and forget to ask: ‘Is he really better than A-Rod through the same age? Is he more remarkable than Bonds? How does he compare to Griffey?’ ” James wrote via e-mail. “That said, he doesn’t hide in the shadows behind anybody. There are very, very few players in baseball history who were great every year. Mays was, Aaron, Musial, A-Rod. Pujols is one of those very, very rare players who plays at a near-M.V.P. level every year.”
Pujols’s greatest concern is his health, particularly a nagging right elbow that required an operation for the second straight off-season. Despite playing with a partial ligament tear since 2003, he has eluded ligament replacement surgery. He said he was surprised last month to learn that he did not need the so-called Tommy John surgery, which would have sidelined him for six to eight months, just the removal of bone chips.
“Thank God I won’t have to miss half the season next year,” Pujols said.
In 2010, he expects to arrive at spring training on time, freed of restrictions or limitations, ready to take the next decade for himself. He will be 40 in 2020 and, if all goes well, Pujols said he still hopes to be playing, finishing a career that, by then, could rank among the best ever.
“I’m training harder every off-season, and I still have a passion for this game,” Pujols said. “I hope to be playing for 10 or 12 more years, as long as I can stay healthy and compete. That’s one thing you need to look at. If I’m 40 and I can compete with those young players, then I’m going to be playing because I love this game.”
Albert Pujols said he did not think about his place in history. He does not worry about how many home runs he will hit or individual awards he will win. When he is finished playing, there will be time for all that.
“Obviously, I want to be a Hall of Famer,” Pujols said. “There’s still a long way to go.”
For another two months, Pujols is 29 years old. As he begins his prime, Pujols is entering velvet-rope territory, a realm occupied by only the sport’s elite. Nine other players have won as many as three Most Valuable Player awards, and all but Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez, who will be eligible for consideration, are enshrined in Cooperstown. Only two — Bonds and Stan Musial, a fellow Cardinal — had captured three before turning 30.
On Tuesday, Pujols won his third National League M.V.P. award, collecting all 32 first-place votes to become the first unanimous M.V.P. — and seventh over all — since Bonds in 2002.
At the beginning of this decade, Bonds owned the category, winning four straight from 2001-4. But Pujols, who finished second to Bonds in 2002 and 2003, has since taken over as the best player in the N.L., winning all three of his M.V.P.’s — including the last two — over the past five seasons. His next award would vault him into second all-time behind Bonds, who has seven.
“There’s so many great players out there — Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Chase Utley,” Pujols said on a conference call. “When I get to spring training, I don’t think about the M.V.P. I just pray to God and try to stay healthy. I’m sure that every year there’s going to be great competition and it’s going to be a great race.”
It was hardly a race this time, with Pujols leading the N.L. in total bases, extra-base hits, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs and, for the first time, home runs, to key the St. Louis Cardinals’ division title. Hanley Ramirez of Florida finished a distant second, 215 points behind Pujols, with Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard, Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder and Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki rounding out the top five.
In 2001, when Pujols was selected as the N.L.’s top rookie, he did not even begin the year on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster. He has since averaged .334 with 42 homers, 129 runs batted in and a 1.055 O.P.S., a show of consistent dominance that has lifted him into select company. No one has hit more homers through his first nine seasons than Pujols (366). Only Ted Williams scored more runs, and only the Hall of Famers Al Simmons and Earl Averill had more hits. The four players with a higher combined on-base and slugging percentage are all considered the game’s greats: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx.
Among the stars of this era, players like Ken Griffey Jr. and Rodriguez, Pujols at this stage of his career has surpassed them all. The noted baseball analyst and author Bill James conceived a method to compare current players to those throughout history called a similarity score. Baseball-Reference.com adapted James’s methodology and found that through his age 29 season Pujols profiles most closely to Foxx, who debuted as a 17-year-old in 1925. The next three are Hank Aaron, Gehrig and Griffey.
“Sometimes we get carried away in superlatives and forget to ask: ‘Is he really better than A-Rod through the same age? Is he more remarkable than Bonds? How does he compare to Griffey?’ ” James wrote via e-mail. “That said, he doesn’t hide in the shadows behind anybody. There are very, very few players in baseball history who were great every year. Mays was, Aaron, Musial, A-Rod. Pujols is one of those very, very rare players who plays at a near-M.V.P. level every year.”
Pujols’s greatest concern is his health, particularly a nagging right elbow that required an operation for the second straight off-season. Despite playing with a partial ligament tear since 2003, he has eluded ligament replacement surgery. He said he was surprised last month to learn that he did not need the so-called Tommy John surgery, which would have sidelined him for six to eight months, just the removal of bone chips.
“Thank God I won’t have to miss half the season next year,” Pujols said.
In 2010, he expects to arrive at spring training on time, freed of restrictions or limitations, ready to take the next decade for himself. He will be 40 in 2020 and, if all goes well, Pujols said he still hopes to be playing, finishing a career that, by then, could rank among the best ever.
“I’m training harder every off-season, and I still have a passion for this game,” Pujols said. “I hope to be playing for 10 or 12 more years, as long as I can stay healthy and compete. That’s one thing you need to look at. If I’m 40 and I can compete with those young players, then I’m going to be playing because I love this game.”
Source: New York Times
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