Pujols Pulls Through

By Val Thompson

With one swing of the bat last night, Albert Pujols cemented himself as the best hitter of the 21st Century. With one swing he showed why he is on a plateau above all the others. Great hitters compile great numbers during the regular season. There are several great hitters in the major leagues. But Pujols is the greatest because he can perform when his team absolutely needs him most.

The Cardinals were done. Their season was all but over. All but Albert. Facing one of the most dominating closers in the game, when nothing other than a home run would suffice, Pujols delivered. He trotted around the bases calmly, with his chin held high. Nothing ecstatic. No jumping around or pumping fists. It was as though he completely expected to hit that ball 450 feet.

Pujols is carrying this offense in the postseason just as he did during the regular season. In the playoffs, he's batting .429 with two home runs. He's getting on base 50% of the time. During the regular season, he led the Cardinals in every major offensive category. And most of the minor ones, too. He played the most games, got the most hits, scored the most runs, hit the most doubles and home runs, drove in the most runs, got the most walks. He even stole the most bases.

Several other players in the league are a dominant figure on their team in a similar way. But Pujols separated himself by showing he can deliver on a large stage, with the season hanging in the balance and in the face of 40,000 screaming Astros fans. Notice the postseason numbers for some of his notable contemporaries:

Alex Rodriguez: the MVP candidate got just two hits in 15 postseason at-bats after batting .321 during the regular season. He led the team (along with Derek Jeter) with five strikeouts in the four-game American League Division Series loss to the Angels. He stranded three runners and went 0-4 in the Yankees' final game of the postseason.

Vladimir Guererro: The career .324 hitter batted just .184 in the postseason. He got seven hits in ten games, all singles. He drove in one run. In the American League Championship Series, he went 1-for-20.

Andrew Jones: He had a strong postseason in many respects, hitting .471 with five RBI in four games. But in the Braves' elimination game (the same situation the Cardinals faced last night), look at how Jones performed in his several chances to put his team on top. In the top of the ninth, he grounded into a double play. He struck out swinging with two runners on in the 11th. He walked in the 14th. He flied out in the 15th. He reached on an error in the 18th. That's five plate appearances in which he could have put his team on top of the Astros. Five plate appearances, no hits. The major league home run champ hit 51 during the regular season. But he couldn't do it to keep his team's hopes alive facing elimination.

David Ortiz: He is the toughest to take a jab at. He put up very Pujols-like numbers and performed fairly well in the Red Sox' elimination game. Ortiz hit .333 in the series loss to the White Sox. Facing elimination, he put the Red Sox on the board with the home run in the 4th inning of Game 3. But in his two remaining at-bats that game, he flied out to end the 5th with two runners on and struck out swining in the 7th with the Red Sox trailing by one run. He was on deck when Edgar Renteria grounded out to second to end the game. If Ortiz had been hitting after Eckstein, maybe it's a different story.