Where does Albert Pujols rank among all-time greats?

[Quid Pro Clowe]

I was waiting for some dumb/silly reason, but yes, f*** that humidity.

I like Stl. Have a good amount of family in the area. Got to take my uncle to the new Busch in 2013 before he passed away after he took my to old Busch in Pujols' rookie year (was also Mac's final season).

 

[Terry Yake]

anyone who followed baseball could've told you the angels were just setting themselves up for hell with that pujols contract

he was going into his age 32 season having just come off the worst season of his career. the writing was there on the wall

 

[Cas]

Albert Pujols is either the greatest or second-greatest first baseman of all time (with Lou Gehrig). I'm comfortable ranking him ahead of Jimmie Foxx at this point.

Top 25 all time is pretty tough competition (particularly since he's a first baseman and not a center fielder or middle infielder), but he's in the discussion (he ranks 30th in career WAR among all players, though that leaves out a few players who never got a chance because racism blocked their path).

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

I remember, a while ago, a lot of speculation that his age was lowered on his birth certificate, to explain why he was so great at a young age and why he was so decrepit in his early 30's

 

[bleedblue1223]

Lots of star hitters boom very early. Trout, Griffey, Harper, etc. Pujols' decline is right in line when players start to drop off, especially players that have had some pretty significant injuries. This argument never made any sense. It's borderline racist, maybe xenophobic is a better one.

 

[Maestro84]

anyone who followed baseball could've told you the angels were just setting themselves up for hell with that pujols contract

he was going into his age 32 season having just come off the worst season of his career. the writing was there on the wall

In his fairness, the fact that Albert's 2011 campaign was the worst of his then 10/11-year career shows you just how much of a titan he was in his hey day. His '11 season would've still been a career year to many all-stars

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Yeah, ever since the Danny Almonte llws scandal, it seems like only hispanic ballplayers get accused of fake ages.

You also never hear of Albert's work with and advocacy for people with Down syndrome. The man is a hof person regardless of his on-field production.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Yeah, ever since the Danny Almonte llws scandal, it seems like only hispanic ballplayers get accused of fake ages.

You also never hear of Albert's work with and advocacy for people with Down syndrome. The man is a hof person regardless of his on-field production.

Yeah, that's why I hated when some people in St. Louis were upset that he had the mentality to maximize the contract he got when he left. For 1, he gave us a great deal on his previous contract, and 2, he is a great person in the community.

 

[Perennial]

Yeah, ever since the Danny Almonte llws scandal, it seems like only hispanic ballplayers get accused of fake ages.

You also never hear of Albert's work with and advocacy for people with Down syndrome. The man is a hof person regardless of his on-field production.

That's because Hispanics come from countries with loose record keeping...

Guerrero, Dotel, Tejada all lied about their ages... and so have others

 

[bleedblue1223]

And what the argument is that he lied about his age by 2 years when he came to the States to make sure he had to play 2 years of high school baseball, on top of another year in college before being able to receive a signing bonus? On top of another year in the minors before receiving a big-league salary. That's the argument? With no basis in fact, it's a pretty gross thing to say IMO.

And even then, when players would lie about ages to make them seem more attractive as a prospect, who cares?

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Yeah, that's why I hated when some people in St. Louis were upset that he had the mentality to maximize the contract he got when he left. For 1, he gave us a great deal on his previous contract, and 2, he is a great person in the community.

I think he spent part of his early life in MO i am sure some hardcore STL fans felt like he was a homegrown local star ditching them for LA.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I think he spent part of his early life in MO i am sure some hardcore STL fans felt like he was a homegrown local star ditching them for LA.

He played high school ball for 2 years in KC area.

Fans just don't like when players operate in their own best interests, whether it's leaving the place you've been for a decade for the most money possible, or teaming up on a super team to win a title like Durant did. In my view, those reactions are all silly. I did feel relieved when those hard feelings were all gone when he made his return to Busch and got multiple standing ovations.

 

[Terry Yake]

He played high school ball for 2 years in KC area.

Fans just don't like when players operate in their own best interests, whether it's leaving the place you've been for a decade for the most money possible, or teaming up on a super team to win a title like Durant did. In my view, those reactions are all silly. I did feel relieved when those hard feelings were all gone when he made his return to Busch and got multiple standing ovations.

also played a year at maple woods cc in KC

 

[bleedblue1223]

also played a year at maple woods cc in KC

Yeah, that point was just that St. Louis fans didn't have any connection to him until he was drafted, and for most fans until his rookie season.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Did Pujols do enough with Angels for them to retire his number? Curious.

Cards should definitely retire his number though. No doubter.

 

[Perennial]

Did Pujols do enough with Angels for them to retire his number? Curious.

Cards should definitely retire his number though. No doubter.

Pujols has a 14.1 WAR with the Angels in 1134 games...

To put that in perspective, Ruth has the single season record for WAR at 14.1 in 152 games

So, no, Pujols hasn't come close to doing enough to warrant having his number retired by the Angels...

 

[Terry Yake]

Did Pujols do enough with Angels for them to retire his number? Curious.

Cards should definitely retire his number though. No doubter.

lol

if being a massive letdown and having the entire fanbase hate you warrants getting your # retired, then absolutely

 

[Vamos Rafa]

lol

if being a massive letdown and having the entire fanbase hate you warrants getting your # retired, then absolutely

That’s why all the honors that Angels and the fans gave him for his milestones (like his 500th and 600th home runs) all felt fake and forced.

 

[Blitzkrug]

He's the greatest of all time if just tell yourself he retired after the Cards won the World Series in 2011.

In all seriousness, his peak from 2001-2011 is pretty god damn disgusting. 3 MVPs, a couple world series wins in there. It's a good enough peak where it renders his time in LA basically irrelevant to his hall of fame chances.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

That's because Hispanics come from countries with loose record keeping...

Guerrero, Dotel, Tejada all lied about their ages... and so have others

That's funny because the Philippines and Taiwan have been involved in doctoring ages in the llws and no one goes around accusing Asians of doing this.

 

[Perennial]

That's funny because the Philippines and Taiwan have been involved in doctoring ages in the llws and no one goes around accusing Asians of doing this.

Have any Asians been caught lying about their age?

Where there's smoke, there's fire...

If there's no smoke, people don't generally look for a fire...

 

[bleedblue1223]

It's happened in all different sports with people of all different backgrounds. It's happened with people from the States and foreign individuals. It's just silly and wrong to use as the evidence that someone was elite in early 20s and stated to decline in early 30s. That's normal, especially with someone who had injuries like Pujols.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

wouldn't be shocked if a he's 3-4 years older than he really is, but that still can't explain how he went from generational talent to replacement player so fast. plantar fascitis is a bitch of an injury.

i'd say combo of injuries, bad genetics and maybe being a bit older than he really is. perhaps he should have taken more 'supplements' in an effort to age more like Ortiz and Bautista.

watching him attempt to run the bases nowadays, he looks 80. it's actually pretty sad

 

[Maestro84]

Did Pujols do enough with Angels for them to retire his number? Curious.

Cards should definitely retire his number though. No doubter.

Lol not a chance with the Angels, if anything he belongs in the LAA Hall of Shame as his contract has near single-handily head this franchise back. Pujols' contract took up Trout's entire 20's, and it's not time the Angels will get back

With STL, he obviously will as he's arguably the greatest player in their long history

 

[bleedblue1223]

wouldn't be shocked if a he's 3-4 years older than he really is, but that still can't explain how he went from generational talent to replacement player so fast. plantar fascitis is a bitch of an injury.

i'd say combo of injuries, bad genetics and maybe being a bit older than he really is. perhaps he should have taken more 'supplements' in an effort to age more like Ortiz and Bautista.

watching him attempt to run the bases nowadays, he looks 80. it's actually pretty sad

Yeah, he's 40, of course he's going to have trouble running the bases in comparison to other players, especially when you consider his body and injury history.

Through his age 36 season, he was still a 1.5+ WAR player. He's had elbow and wrist injuries, to go with a handful of lower-body injuries.

Baustista's major dropoff started earlier than Pujols'. Ortiz was able to save his body by being a DH.