Pujols. That's it. Just Pujols.
Hey blog. It's been a long time since I blogged at you. But this morning I had a conversation with my dentist, a die-hard Cardinals fan displaced in central Texas just like me (big ups to Dr. Cordera!), about my lack of cavities and about The Pujols. At this point, he needs to be referred to exactly that way, just like you would some sort indomitable of force of nature, ie, The Tsunami, or The Himalayas. It's tough to quantify what he's doing, both in his career and in this season.
Let's start with career. Good news: two guys who are perhaps the best baseball writers alive, Bill James and Joe Posnanski, recently tackled this subject for Sports Illustrated. It's short and worth reading. Essentially, they conclude that there's never been a player who has opened his career with 9 seasons of dominance the way Pujols has, and in fact there have been two players who have ever put together 9 consecutive seasons at any time like he has thus far. Most recently, Paul Waner (1926-1934).
Within this unique career, 2009 may go down as his finest. What does the finest season by perhaps the best right handed hitter of all time look like? Through 81 games (half a season), 31 HR, 82 RBI, .336 BA. That half of a season would put him in MVP consideration most years.
But more interestingly, a friend of mine, Theosqua, wondered what half of Pujols' production would look like, including his slash stats (Batting Average, On Base Percentage, On Base Plus Slugging). Obviously, 16 HR and 41 RBI would be decent figures at the all star break. Is he truly twice the player of other guys in the league?
Here is the slash stats of Half-A-Poo
.168/.230/.370/.600
So, a 600 OPS - not very good. But stunningly, as good or better than a lot of players:
.168/.230/.370/.600 - Half a Poo
.234/.242/.359/.602 - Nick Stavinoha
.203/.240/.260/.500 - Aaron Miles
.219/.261/.324/.585 - Tyler Greene
.158/.256/.249/.505 - Andrew Jones (2008)
.232/.321/.278/.600 - Jason Kendall
.224/.276/.353/.628 - Jimmy Rollins
.267/.330/.337/.667 - David Eckstein
.214/.286/.359/.645 - Kelly Johnson
.244/.288/.301/.588 - Willy Taveras
.191/.277/.271/.548 - Brian Giles
.225/.302/.335/.637 - Garrett Atkins
.243/.276/.337/.612 - Jeff Francoeur
Let's start with career. Good news: two guys who are perhaps the best baseball writers alive, Bill James and Joe Posnanski, recently tackled this subject for Sports Illustrated. It's short and worth reading. Essentially, they conclude that there's never been a player who has opened his career with 9 seasons of dominance the way Pujols has, and in fact there have been two players who have ever put together 9 consecutive seasons at any time like he has thus far. Most recently, Paul Waner (1926-1934).
Within this unique career, 2009 may go down as his finest. What does the finest season by perhaps the best right handed hitter of all time look like? Through 81 games (half a season), 31 HR, 82 RBI, .336 BA. That half of a season would put him in MVP consideration most years.
But more interestingly, a friend of mine, Theosqua, wondered what half of Pujols' production would look like, including his slash stats (Batting Average, On Base Percentage, On Base Plus Slugging). Obviously, 16 HR and 41 RBI would be decent figures at the all star break. Is he truly twice the player of other guys in the league?
Here is the slash stats of Half-A-Poo
.168/.230/.370/.600
So, a 600 OPS - not very good. But stunningly, as good or better than a lot of players:
.168/.230/.370/.600 - Half a Poo
.234/.242/.359/.602 - Nick Stavinoha
.203/.240/.260/.500 - Aaron Miles
.219/.261/.324/.585 - Tyler Greene
.158/.256/.249/.505 - Andrew Jones (2008)
.232/.321/.278/.600 - Jason Kendall
.224/.276/.353/.628 - Jimmy Rollins
.267/.330/.337/.667 - David Eckstein
.214/.286/.359/.645 - Kelly Johnson
.244/.288/.301/.588 - Willy Taveras
.191/.277/.271/.548 - Brian Giles
.225/.302/.335/.637 - Garrett Atkins
.243/.276/.337/.612 - Jeff Francoeur
Labels: Pujolphilia
posted by Josh Katz at
10:33 AM
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