Albert Pujols (1980-) - Dominican-American Baseball Superstar, and One of the Greatest Players in History

[DaveO]

3 hours ago, DonRocks said:

George Brett is one of only five players in MLB history to have 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, and a .300 batting average for his career (the other four are Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, and (as you mention above) Albert Pujols).

Albert Pujols might be one of those all time greats whose historical stats might take a "hit":   specifically his batting average.   Just checked him out.  As of last year his career average is .302.  For the Cards during his first 11 years his average was .320.  Over the last 7 years for the Angels his average is .260 and it keeps trending downward.  He is one of those few players over time that I like to watch from time to time.  During his first decade his hitting exploits rivaled that of the greatest players in history.   Injuries, age, and advanced defensive alignments are combining to turn him into one of the most overpaid, under performing players in the game.   (Nevertheless I still like watching him)

Check back on this in a year or two.  Pujols might drop out of that impressive group of players.

[DonRocks]

I hate to keep starting new topics for you, but each of these players deserves their own thread, and you can always snap back to the previous thread by clicking on the little curved arrow at the top-right of the quoted post, at the far-right of the light-grey line - you can keep snapping back until the beginning of time (or the original thread, whichever comes last).

Pujols is certainly one of the greatest players in history, and may just have the greatest resume of any active player. I wouldn't worry about his declining batting average (George Brett's lifetime average dropped to .305). 

One other note: If anyone is concerned that I'm noting his Dominican heritage in the title and tags: That's meant to be a gesture of respect and honor - we could have an entire thread on great baseball players from the Dominican Republic (starting, perhaps, with whom Pete Rose called the greatest pitcher he ever faced, Juan Marichal, who also deserves his own thread). 

I should add: If Pujols hits 15 home runs in 2019, then he'll be #5 on the all-time list, behind Bonds, Aaron, Ruth, and Mays.