MLB Needs Pujols to go Triple

When Albert Pujols hits a home run, it's like seeing a high-speed-head-on collision. Everything is in slow motion. The pitcher realizes the ball's fate and mouths an explitive just before the crash. The explosion sounds like windows blowing out. When the dust finally settles, Pujols is seen trotting around the destruction he's caused.

Let's get this out of the way: Pujols is the best player in baseball. He surpassed A-Rod years before Alex's cousin bought a GNC gift bag from the Dominican. Somewhere between Pujols's World Series ring, his .425 on-base percentage (A-rod's is .389) and the Roberto Clemente Award, Pujols snuck up and stole the crown.

For all the home runs Pujols hits, he has never struck out more than 100 times (Alex has done it 12 times), batted below .314 or hit less than 30 doubles.

What more can The Machine do? Maybe he could try to lead the league in stolen bases or sacrafice bunts. It would be wierder than the season Wilt Chamberlain led the NBA in assists, but I'm sure he could do it. Rather than that, he could fill his name in above Carl Yastrzemski's as the last player to hit for the Triple Crown.


In 1967, Yastrzemski hit 44 home runs, drove in 121 and batted .326. He was the last to lead the league in all three categories.


Now that home run numbers are coming back to Earth (except in stadiums built with "slots") Pujols has a chance. Phat Al has finished in the top 10 in all three categories each season of his career, including career highs of .359, 49 and 137.


Pujols, who currently leads the league in home runs and RBI, and sports a batting average of .348, is the only player with the potential to end Yaz's 41 year reign.


Yaz's streak speaks to the beauty of baseball. The game suffered from 20 scandal-filled years of Hulk-Hogan-like homer hitters breaking legendary records, and yet, no one lead the league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in.


If Pujols leads the Triple Crown race come September, maybe those disgruntled by the steroid-era would forgive, the same way Big Mac and Sosa healed open wounds from the '94 players strike. Only this time, the other shoe wouldn't drop a few years later.


If ever baseball needed a (clean) hero, it's now. Peter Gammons reported earlier this year MLB attendance could drop anywhere from 17 to 20 percent this season. The 2008 World Series set the record for lowest TV ratings ever with 8.4. In the 1970's, that number never dipped below 24.


Who would make a better hero than the Roberto Clemente Award winner? Pujols won the award in '08 for his charity work to benefit those with Down Syndrome as well as his contributions to the Dominican Republic. Pujols, whose daughter has Down Syndrome, said it was the greatest honor of his career.

Only two things can stop Pujols from winning the Triple Crown: bases on balls and Ryan Howard.

Pujols has been walked 16 times in 19 games so far this season. Cubs manager Lou Pinella said he planned on walking Albert any time he came up with runners in scoring position. Pujols walked 104 times last season, he's used to it, but those BB's may stunt RBI's if he isn't allowed to bat with runners on third base.

Ryan Howard, who averages 51 home runs per season over the last three years, plays in the National League, so it will be difficult for Pujols to top him in home runs. Howard benefits from a miniature ballpark and getting to face the Mets starting rotation 20 times a year. Howard's upper cut is also more home run friendly than Pujols's line-drive-hitting style. To illustrate, Howard had 26 doubles last season, Pujols had 44.


Only 13 players have won baseball's Triple Crown since 1900. None would be more important to baseball than if Pujols did it this season. Major League Baseball needs something big enough to bring fans back into seats as well as regaining trust in their heroes.