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If you asked a baseball fan last year who the best player in the game was, you would most likely get a wide array of answers.
Manny Rameriez, Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera, Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, and countless more names that rank atop any stat sheet. All of them are worthy players with extreme talents.
However, a lot can happen in the course of one year.
Man-ram was caught trying to jump-start his non-existent ovaries, and his bat, by failing a test for a banned substance. He is currently serving a 50-game suspension.
So he’s off the list this season.
A-rod’s admission of using performance enhancing drugs while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-’03, a span in which he lead the Majors in RBIs, definitely puts a damper on his argument for the game's greatest.
So he’s off the list.
An assortment of bad luck and bad performance has plagued many of the aforementioned players this season. Aside from Cabrera, who is only 26 and has plenty of time to make a stronger push to be the game’s best, many of 2008's best players are struggling to repeat their past performances.
Pedroia’s off to a slow start, considering he is the reigning MVP, and Howard’s continued problems with striking out (he gets ringed up once every three at-bats) hasn’t helped his cause.
However, amongst the cheating and shame, the one-dimensional players, the slow starts, and the “not quite there yets”, there still remains one player who has been the model of consistency and excellence.
Albert Pujols.
Pujols, a two-time NL MVP, is well on his way to his third award in only nine seasons. This guy is only 29 years old and it is safe to say that, barring injury, he should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
The Machine puts up numbers! So if you are reading this article and cannot wait to post a comment starting an argument, I dare you to try and argue.
Pujols has had 30-plus jacks and 100-plus RBI in every season of his career, to go along with a .334 batting average.
This season, he is on pace to compete for the coveted Triple Crown—when a player leads his respective league in home runs, batting average, and RBI.
Pujols is currently hitting .328 with 26 bombs and 68 RBI. Not to mention his ridiculous .445 on-base percentage. And we’re not even at the All-Star break.
What’s even more impressive is he’s doing all of this without any real protection. Pujols is hitting second in the St. Louis Cardinals lineup in front of Skip Schumaker, who is hitting a very solid, but not imposing, .298 with only three home runs.
Let's not forget, Pujols is also a Gold Glover-caliber first baseman.
There is nothing this guy can’t do. Try to jam him by pitching inside, and he gets under the ball and pulls it out of the stadium. Avoid throwing him any heat, and he’ll jump all over a hanging breaking ball and put it out of the park.
Don’t even attempt to challenge him and simply stay on the outer half of the plate, and he’ll slap the ball the other way and take the extra points for his average.
This guy is a beast of a ball player who has mastered all facets of hitting and consistently keeps his team in the playoff race.
Alber Pujols is currently sitting on Baseball’s top spot.
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