Pujols Powers Cards over Astros

 R.B. Fallstrom – AP Sports Writer
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/
2831219C43385D438625717D007FF5F7?OpenDocument

Albert Pujols hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning to lift the St. Louis Cardinals over the Houston Astros 3-1 Monday.

The Cardinals rallied after six fruitless innings against Roy Oswalt, pitching in St. Louis for the first time since the Astros’ NL championship series clincher last fall. Jason Marquis worked seven strong innings for the NL Central leaders, who sent the Astros to their sixth loss in seven games.

Miles singled off Trever Miller (0-1) to start the seventh and John Rodriguez coaxed a full-count walk with two outs ahead of Pujols, who hit his major league-leading 25th homer off Chad Qualls on a 2-0 pitch.

Pujols, who also leads the majors with 64 RBIs, missed a chance against Oswalt when he struck out on three pitches with runners on first and second to end the fifth.

Marquis (7-4) has won his last four starts and is 5-1 against the Astros the last two seasons. He worked around early control problems that led to hit batters on consecutive pitches and to the Astros’ lone run on Preston Wilson’s infield hit in third. He struck out two, walked two and allowed only three hits.

Oswalt, who’s 0-2 in his last five starts, left with a 1-0 lead after holding the Cardinals to seven hits and a walk. He struck out five and stranded two runners in the first, fourth and fifth.

Last year, Oswalt was 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two NLCS starts against the Cardinals, and he silenced them in Game 6 after Pujols’ dramatic homer off Brad Lidge won Game 5.

Craig Biggio became the 23rd player to reach 10,000 at-bats when he grounded out to end the seventh. Biggio also was one of three players hit by pitches from Marquis, extending his modern-day record in that category to 277.

Marquis hit Willy Taveras on a 3-1 pitch, then plunked Biggio on the next pitch with one out in the third. Morgan Ensberg walked with two outs and Taveras scored on Wilson’s sharp grounder to third that handcuffed Scott Rolen.

Jason Isringhausen, the Cardinals’ third pitcher, worked the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.

Notes: A sellout crowd of 45,509 was the largest at new Busch Stadium, boosted when about 5,000 seats in left field were used for the first time. That portion overlapped the old Busch, demolished last winter. … Lance Berkman got his 1,000th career hit on a sharp single off the right-field wall in the fifth. Berkman, hampered by a hyperextended right knee, started for the first time in three games. … The Astros are 8-17 on the road. … Jim Edmonds missed his third straight game with a lower abdomen injury. … David Eckstein was 3-for-5 for his 22nd multihit game of the season. He entered the game tied for the NL lead with Miguel Cabrera of Florida.
 

Posted by AlbertPujolsClub.com on May 29 2006 in Pujols News


Five new articles added!!

Five new, very entertaining Albert Pujols articles have been added to the articles page. Check them out!!

Posted by AlbertPujolsClub.com on May 28 2006 in Pujols Club Updates


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Posted by AlbertPujolsClub.com on May 28 2006 in Pujols Club Updates


You better believe it: Pujols is the real deal

By Bruce Jenkins
Link

In a sport tormented by the supernatural, and widespread evidence of its effects on history, Albert Pujols represents the natural He was supposed to happen. What a shame that people are too freaked out to believe it.
Do you subscribe to the "bigger, stronger, faster" theory of sports evolution? Well, here it is. Pujols is the 21st century, the ultimate striker of the baseball, the heir to Barry Bonds as the best damn hitter alive. He’s big, sort of a modern-day "Baby Bull" (Orlando Cepeda), but not alarmingly so. A Cooperstown presence from the instant he arrived, he has steadily improved each year. He is Hispanic, markedly representing the game’s most significant revolution in 50 years. He is Michael Jordan, Lawrence Taylor, Roger Federer — the next great thing, the closest step yet to perfection.

And by the way, where does he keep his stash of Human Growth Hormone?

This isn’t sports, healer of all souls, this is baseball’s version of the McCarthy era. Every home run brings just the slightest hint of doubt. If a pitcher loses a touch of velocity, he must be off the juice. Barry Bonds carries a massive frame, so he must still be doing something, except wait a minute, his body illustrates the classic post-steroid breakdown — so which is it?

There remains the possibility, of course, that Pujols is not completely natural. "Hey, I passed every test" means nothing in a testing system rendered illegitimate by loopholes. The suspicion just seems wrong, that’s all. It smacks of fear and paranoia. Pujols is about to show that a 65-to-70-homer season can be accomplished through honest means, but please, let’s talk about urine.

Posted by AlbertPujolsClub.com on May 28 2006 in Pujols News


Pujols’ big year overshadowed by Bonds’ crass act

By Jerry Sullivan
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060528/1041771.asp

Last week, after hitting his 714th home run to pull even with Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds told the assembled media horde that they were now free to leave him and turn their attention to the amazing power-hitting feats of the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols.
It was a typically irrational and insincere bit of posturing by the most reviled athlete in professional sports. First of all, why would Bonds expect the dozens of media who had been following his every move to pull up stakes after he had merely tied Ruth for second place on baseball’s all-time home run list?

Those poor saps were doomed to stalk Bonds until he finally hit No. 715, putting him ahead of Ruth and within 40 homers of Henry Aaron’s record. I felt sorry for those guys – and even sorrier for Bonds’ irritated San Francisco teammates, who were reduced to calling phony team meetings to clear their cluttered clubhouse of the reporting masses.

Most of all, though, I feel sorry for Pujols, a classy, gifted hitter who had the misfortune of staging one of the most remarkable starts in baseball history at the same time when Bonds was mounting his protracted and joyless assault on the Babe.

Heading into today’s games, Pujols had 23 home runs and 58 RBIs in 49 games this season. That put him on pace to hit 76 homers and shatter Bonds’ single-season record of 73. Pujols was also on pace for 192 RBIs, which would also break Hack Wilson’s major-league record of 191 ribbies.

The baseball world should be celebrating Pujols’ amazing start and reveling at the prospect of Pujols making a run at the home run and RBI records. Instead, the Cardinals first baseman must perform his feats in the lingering shadow of suspicion cast by Bonds and the generation of big-leaguers who cheated to gain an edge while baseball turned a blind eye.

Thanks to Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro and their legion of juicers, we can’t fully enjoy the power-hitting exploits of any slugger. Every feat becomes suspect, every achievement accompanied by whispers, skepticism and doubt. No one is immune – not Pujols, not Jim Thome or Adam Dunn, no one.

Pujols has done the gracious thing. He has criticized the media for hounding Bonds and bringing up the steroid question at every opportunity. Pujols has little choice. He’s a player, a member of the club, and with a few exceptions (David Wells, most notably), the players have learned to keep their feelings to themselves.

But Pujols shouldn’t have to apologize for Bonds. Bonds and the other cheaters should be apologizing to Pujols, for creating a climate of rampant suspicion and making it necessary for Pujols to defend himself against the inevitable rumors of steroid use.

It’s too bad we can’t simply sit back and appreciate Pujols for what he is – the best young hitter of his generation. Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t believe Pujols is on steroids. I think he’s legitimate, a great pure hitter who is developing into the most feared power hitter in the sport.

Pujols doesn’t have the classic signs of steroid use. His body is squat and powerful, but he comes by his power naturally, as a product of his amazing hands and flawless, right-handed swing.

There are skeptics who believe Pujols is actually older than 26. He has to deal not only with the steroid issue, but the suspicion that many Dominican players lie about their real ages. Really, who cares if he’s a year or two older? This isn’t Little League. Whatever his age, he is having his power surge in his early prime, unlike Bonds and McGwire, whose bodies and power numbers made freakish changes late in their careers.

There’s been a stunning consistency to Pujols’ early career. He has hit over .300 with 30 homers and 100 RBIs in each of his first five seasons. His walk totals have increased with each season. He is a tireless student of hitting. He goes to the video room after his at-bats to review his swing and look for flaws. He has also become an excellent first baseman.

Pujols has become a great hitter and a terrific player, although he could never be the astounding all-around talent that Bonds was in his prime. That’s the sad thing about all this. Bonds never needed to use steroids and become a longball freak to ensure his legacy. If he had never hit 50 homers, he would have been remembered by baseball historians as one of the greatest players of all time.

Bonds’ story is largely one of excessive ego and pride. He felt he didn’t receive the adoration that McGwire and Sosa did during their home run chase in 1998. There’s truth to that. He’s right about another thing. We should ignore Bonds and pay attention to Albert Pujols, who actually deserves it.

Believe me, Barry, I’m already there.

Posted by AlbertPujolsClub.com on May 28 2006 in Pujols News


Triple Crown? Don’t count out Pujols

Link

For certain, the Memorial Day one-third-of-the-season milepost is too early to be speculating about Triple Crowns. And let the record show that Pujols has won exactly one of the three jewels — a 2003 batting title. We’ll even acknowledge and agree with Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last week in response to a question about home runs:

“I don’t think it’s smart and productive for Albert, and it’s not productive for our team to get into (that) discussion. These numbers happen as the result of doing something right. Play the game. Just play the game, and whatever the numbers are, the numbers are.’’

But then again, this is no ordinary star we’re talking about. Pujols’ first five seasons are nothing less than historic — all five with at least a .314 batting average, 34 homers and 117 RBI. A .332 cumulative batting average with a batting title, and one league-leading hit total. A total of 201 home runs, with a high of 46. A total of 621 RBI, with a high of 124. Three consecutive runs scored titles and two total-bases titles.

And now he is off to a start that portends him reaching even greater heights. What these numbers are as June 1 approaches are mind-boggling:

With 24 home runs in the Cardinals’ first 50 games, Pujols was the fastest to reach a handful of mileposts, including 14 in the month of April. He is almost a month ahead of Babe Ruth’s 60-homer pace in 1927. Pujols hit No. 23 on May 23rd, Ruth didn’t belt his 23rd until June 22. Barry Bonds hit his 23rd in 2001 on May 21, then went on a tear and had 28 by the end of May on his way to 73.

Sixty RBIs by June 1 is rare in the game’s long history, but more commonplace in the recently-completed (so we think) Steroids Era. Juan Gonzalez, Mark McGwire, Manny Ramirez and Ken Griffey Jr. all did it from 1997-99. Pujols has a couple of more days to increase his total of 61.

And with title hogs such as Bonds and Tony Gwynn no longer dominating individual categories, Pujols’ power-and-average combination makes him at the very least a legitimate possibility for the first Triple Crown winner in 39 seasons.

Who can stop him, and in what category? Here’s a look:

Home runs: Through Sunday, Pujols (career high 46) had a six-homer edge on Alfonso Soriano (career high 39), and led Carlos Lee (career high 32), Morgan Ensberg (career high 36) and Ryan Howard (career high 22) by seven.

Two more emerging young sluggers — Adam Dunn and Jason Bay — were next with 16, the latter with 10 in the last 10 days. Dunn has hit 86 in the previous two seasons. Andruw Jones belted 51 to win the title and top Pujols by 10 last season, and currently has 12, so he must be watched. So should Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran.

Otherwise, there isn’t much to fear in terms of recent winners. Before Jones, the previous NL home-run leaders were Adrian Beltre and Jim Thome — both in the American League — now-retired Sammy Sosa, and Bonds, who finally hit No. 7 to pass Babe Ruth at 715 and counting. 

Posted by AlbertPujolsClub.com on May 28 2006 in Pujols News


Pujols, Jeter MVP front runners..

by Bob Matthews Staff writer

Link

(May 28, 2006) — Major League Baseball First Quarterly Report:

American League Most Valuable Player — Derek Jeter (New York), with Jim Thome (Chicago) close behind. Jeter has never won an MVP award, but Mr. Intangible is off to a terrific start offensively and defensively this season. Thome leads the AL in HRs and RBI and has made the defending champion White Sox even better.

National League Most Valuable Player — Albert Pujols (St. Louis). Nobody else is close. He has a chance to win the NL’s first Triple Crown since fellow Cardinal Joe Medwick in 1937. He won’t top Ducky’s .374 batting average but should easily beat his 31 HRs and 154 RBI.

Best team — Detroit, at least for now. The pitching staff is the big surprise, with baseball’s lowest earned-run average. The ERA figures to increase (Mike Maroth’s sore elbow is a concern) but the hitting could get even better. The Tigers look like a legitimate playoff team and aren’t likely to collapse with Jim Leyland as manager.

Worst team — Kansas City. It isn’t easy to be as horrible as these Royals. They’re last in the AL in runs and have the worst pitching staff in the majors. They’re on pace to post a worse record than the expansion 1962 Mets (40-120).

Top flop starting rotation — Minnesota, with veterans Brad Radke, Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse. Their combined pitching line: 8-16 record; 8.13 ERA; 144 innings; 222 hits allowed (including 35 HRs).

Randy Johnson (New York AL) has a 5.89 ERA but he has a legitimate excuse: He’s 42 years old.

Top flop team — Los Angeles Angels. Manager Mike Scioscia squeezed a lot out of this team for a long time, but they’re no longer overachieving.

The Red Sox are scouting the talent-rich Angels farm system, stirring speculation that Manny Ramirez could be Anaheim-bound for a bunch of top prospects.

Teams most likely to improve — Toronto and Cleveland in the AL. Philadelphia and Houston in the NL.

The Blue Jays have one of the top three lineups in baseball. The Indians have too much talent to play .500 ball much longer.

The Phillies have the talent to win the NL East but haven’t consistently shown it yet. The Astros have an underrated lineup when everyone is healthy, and Roger Clemens could be joining the starting rotation.

Posted by AlbertPujolsClub.com on May 28 2006 in Pujols News


Pujols 24th not enough at Padres

Associated Press
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=95994

SAN DIEGO — The Padres and Cardinals did their best to wreck Petco Park’s reputation as a pitcher’s park.
Mark Bellhorn hit the longest home run in Petco’s three-year history and drove in four runs, Josh Bard connected twice and had three RBIs, and San Diego beat St. Louis 10-8 Sunday.

With Mark Mulder and Jake Peavy leaving pitches up in the strike zone, balls were flying out of the spacious downtown ballpark in big numbers and at record distances.

"It probably wasn’t predicted that way, but this is baseball," Peavy said. "You think you’ve seen it all but you haven’t."

 

San Diego rallied for eight runs in the fifth inning — all coming with one out — to get Peavy off the hook. Peavy (4-5) had fallen behind 6-2 after the five-run St. Louis fifth, when Albert Pujols hit a three-run drive for his major league-leading 24th homer.

Bard hit a two-run homer in the fifth, just after Bellhorn’s three-run double. Bellhorn and Bard homered on consecutive pitches in the fourth. Bard, Mike Cameron and Bard had three hits apiece.

Each team hit three homers, and they were all no-doubters in a park that measures 396 feet to center field and 402 in the power alleys.

"It’s been carrying better. In the daytime it does jump out of here," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said. "The way those balls were hit, they’re going out anywhere. All those balls were crushed today. It doesn’t matter what park they were playing in."

What mattered for the Padres is that they rebounded from Saturday’s crushing finish, when Brian Giles was picked off first base for the final out of a 4-3 Cardinals win.

San Diego took two of three from the Cardinals, who swept the Padres in the NL division series in October. Overall, the Padres won for just the fourth time in 12 games.

"That’s a great win for us, coming off a tough loss and getting down four runs against a good ballclub," Bochy said. "Bellhorn and Bard, I mean, they had huge days to save us."

Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his ninth save in as many chances. He’s second on the career list with 445, 33 behind Lee Smith.

Each team had 16 hits, setting a Petco record for total hits in a game.

Petco Park, which opened in 2004, surrendered its two longest homers, and three of its longest four. Sammy Sosa’s old record of 434 feet set in 2004 was eclipsed twice in a matter of minutes.

Bellhorn hit a 1-0 pitch from Mark Mulder (5-3) estimated at 438 feet that cleared the sand play area beyond the fence in right-center and landed in the bleachers, tying the game at 1 with one out in the fourth. Bard hit Mulder’s next pitch an estimated 434 feet off the railing of the balcony on the fourth floor of the Western Metal Supply Co. Building just beyond the left-field corner.

"I just made some really bad pitches," Mulder said. "When you throw the ball in the middle of the plate and up in the zone, it’s going to get hit. That’s pretty much what I did the whole game."

Said Bellhorn: "It’s a good feeling. You’ve got to hit it pretty good out in right-center."

Pujols capped the Cardinals’ fifth with a 436-foot shot to straightaway center field on a 1-1 pitch from Peavy, giving the Cardinals a 6-2 lead. David Eckstein singled in a run and John Rodriguez hit an RBI double.

Ten of San Diego’s first 11 batters reached in the fifth, and Cameron singled twice in the inning. Eric Young, Cameron and Brian Giles opened with singles to load the bases. With one out, Khalil Greene walked to force in the first run. Bellhorn cleared the bases with a double to right-center to tie it at 6, and Bard chased Mulder with his two-run shot into the second deck in left to put the Padres ahead.

"I don’t hit a lot of home runs, and I don’t hit a lot of long ones," Bard said. "Mark’s gotten me a lot of times, and he’s gotten a lot of weak groundouts to short. You get one up and you hit it good, and the ball’s carrying good. But a home run’s a home run, it doesn’t matter how far it goes."

Bard was starting for the second straight day in place of 37-year-old catcher Mike Piazza.

Pinch-hitter Geoff Blum and Cameron finished off the scoring in the fifth with RBI singles.

Peavy went five innings in his first start since setting the Padres’ record with 16 strikeouts in a 3-1 loss to Atlanta on Monday night. He allowed six runs and nine hits, struck out six and walked none.

Mulder allowed eight runs and 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings, struck out three and walked one.

"Mark had a very rough day," manager Tony La Russa said. "Evidently, I stayed with him a little too long."

Juan Encarnacion led off the second with his sixth homer for the Cardinals, his sixth, and Scott Rolen hit a solo drive in the ninth, his fifth.

Notes: Bard has five homers and Bellhorn four. … The Padres hit eight homers in the series. … It was Bard’s first multihomer game. … The Padres have hit back-to-back homers twice this season. Josh Barfield and Blum did it May 3 at the Los Angeles Dodgers. … The old record for combined hits in a game at Petco was 29 by the Cubs and Padres last June 4.

Posted by AlbertPujolsClub.com on May 28 2006 in Pujols News


Pujols helps in win

 By BERNIE WILSON, AP Sports Writer

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=260527125

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Albert Pujols didn’t have to hit a home run to help beat the San Diego Padres.
With a glance at catcher Yadier Molina, the slugging first baseman set in motion a pickoff throw that nailed Brian Giles for the final out on Saturday to seal the St. Louis Cardinals‘ 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Saturday.

"When you get a pickoff like that to end the game, it feels like a walkoff home run," Molina said.

"This is teamwork," Pujols said. "That’s why you practice things in spring training, you know, hopefully to help you win some games like today."

Said Giles: "I could sugarcoat it, but you can’t get picked off in that situation."

St. Louis closer Jason Isringhausen retired the first two Padres batters in the ninth before the Padres rallied with a single by Mike Cameron and a four-pitch walk by Giles.

When Giles took a big lead off first with left-hander Josh Bard batting, Pujols made eye contact with Molina. The catcher called for an inside cutter on a 1-0 count, gloved it, wheeled behind Bard and threw to Pujols, who tagged the surprised Giles.

"I can see the guy better than him from behind the plate, so I know when to call the play," Pujols said.

"I know Albert. We know each other. I just look to the eyes," Molina said.

"I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a game end like that," said Tony La Russa, who’s in his 28th season a big league manager.

"If one of our owners asks, I’m going to say I called it," joked La Russa, who added that all the credit goes to Molina and Pujols.

"That is such a tough play," La Russa said. "You think about if the ball goes down the line. He has no fear. What a time to pull it off."

Isringhausen got his NL-leading 16th save in 18 chances even though his last six pitches were balls.

"It was too good of a game to have it end that way," Giles said. "It’s part of the game. It’s a shame it ended that way."

The Padres lost for the eighth time in 11 games.

In the eighth, the Padres had runners on second and third with two outs before Braden Looper got Geoff Blum to pop up to third.

Pujols, who leads the majors with 23 homers, went 0-for-4, including popping up with the bases loaded in the third. He was intentionally walked in the seventh with a runner on second and one out.

Sidney Ponson (4-0) came off the disabled list before the game and held San Diego to two runs on seven hits in five innings. The Cardinals handed Chan Ho Park (2-3) his second straight loss.

This pitching matchup was made possible by Phil Nevin.

The Padres tried to trade the slumping slugger to Baltimore for Ponson a week before the deadline last season, but Nevin killed the deal because the Orioles were one of eight teams covered by his no-trade clause. Texas was not on Nevin’s no-trade list, and four days later the Padres dealt him to the Rangers for Park.

Ponson, who signed with the Cardinals as a free agent in December, had been on the DL since May 9 with a strained right elbow. He struck out four and walked one.

Park allowed four runs and six hits in six innings. He got into trouble in the second and third innings, when he allowed all four Cardinals runs.

With the score tied at 1, the first three Cardinals batters in the third all reached base and scored. Ponson singled to center, David Eckstein singled to right and Scott Spiezio was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Pujols popped up, but Scott Rolen hit a two-run double into the right-field corner and Juan Encarnacion followed with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 4-1.

Rolen and Encarnacion singled to open the second, were sacrificed by So Taguchi, and Rolen scored on Yadier Molina’s groundout.

The Padres got solo home runs by Giles and Mark Bellhorn, giving them five in two games.

Giles homered off Ponson with two outs in the third, his fifth, to pull the Padres to 4-2. Bellhorn connected to left with one out in the sixth off Adam Wainwright, his third, to help San Diego close to 4-3.

San Diego’s Josh Bard hit an RBI double in the first.

Posted by AlbertPujolsClub.com on May 28 2006 in Pujols News


Is Pujols ready to replace Bonds as home run king?

Kat O’brien of Star-Telegram
http://origin.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/baseball/14688754.htm?source=rss&channel=dfw_baseball

Albert Pujols finally won his first Most Valuable Player award last year. That is, if you can legitimately say "finally" about a player who was 25 at the time.

At the rate he is hitting now, and his incredible penchant for improving each season, Pujols might have an entire room full of MVP awards by the time his career ends. The Cardinals first baseman was batting .323 with 23 home runs and 58 RBI entering play Saturday. His OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) was an absurd 1.255.

"He’s on pace for 80 home runs," Rangers third baseman Hank Blalock said. "Everyone keeps saying it’s early, but it’s been two months. I think it’s time to start giving it some attention."

Actually, Pujols was on pace for 77 home runs. And, yes, it’s early, but if he continues at this pace he would surpass the single-season home run mark of 73, set by Barry Bonds in 2001. For those who would like to keep Bonds out of the record books as much as possible because of the steroids allegations surrounding him, Pujols could be the antidote.

Some Rangers players, while not accusing Bonds of anything, agreed that it could be a positive to have a player atop the record books whose name has never been associated with drug use.

"It’s amazing what he’s doing," outfielder Brad Wilkerson said. "He’s having Barry-type numbers. Seventy-three, I don’t see that happening, but if he does it…I think it’d be great for the game."

Said Blalock: "The good thing about it is he’s going to play his whole career with really strict steroid testing. From now on, no one can accuse him of anything. I think it’s so great for baseball if he breaks the home run record."

Some question the assertion that Pujols never used steroids because players are not tested for human growth hormone. But to throw Pujols’ name onto the list of possible steroid users with absolutely no evidence, beside the fact that he hits a lot of home runs, is unfair.

He has been an incredible hitter since he broke into the majors in 2001. His career average (entering Saturday) is .325, and he has never batted below .314 for a season. He has driven in between 117 and 130 runs every season, scored from 112 to 137 runs, and hit from 34 to 46 home runs.

Pujols isn’t really doing anything new. He chased a Triple Crown last year, and in fact, Pujols finished top-five in the NL in home runs, RBI and batting average in each of the past three seasons. He’s just stepping his slugging up another level.

"It’s a joke," Rangers shortstop Michael Young said. "I laughed when I saw him saying he’s not a home run hitter, he’s a line drive hitter. Line drives don’t end up 40 rows up. Players are definitely talking about it [the home runs]."

Even Bonds said he was rooting for Pujols to pass him.

"I love it!" Bonds told reporters. "I hope he shatters it."

Young says Bonds has not been dethroned yet, because he’s coming back from multiple knee surgeries.

"I don’t care what the numbers say," Young said. "Barry Bonds is still the best hitter in the game. It’s 1 [Bonds] and 1A [Pujols]."

But…he cautioned…it’s close. If Bonds’ numbers (.250 with six home runs through Friday) don’t improve, Young would turn the crown over to Pujols by season’s end.

"Then I’d flip-flop them," Young said. "One and 1A, but reverse the order."

Then Prince Albert, as Pujols is nicknamed, can become King Albert. And all of baseball will celebrate.

Posted by AlbertPujolsClub.com on May 28 2006 in Pujols News



 

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