Does Albert Pujols Project To Be Major League Baseball's Best Hitter Ever?
St. Louis muscleman Albert Pujols has done a pretty good job of imprinting himself on Major League Baseball's collective consciousness these past several months as followers of the grand old game have been compelled to consider a radical change of venue for the stand-out Cardinal first baseman.
The numbers being bandied about are pretty heady, as Pujols, at least for now, seems intent on becoming the games highest paid player — something in the area of $25-30 million per year with the only possible harbinger being there are but a handful of clubs who could possibly consider crunching that number.
Projecting Possible Zip Codes
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You've got to figure Boston/Fenway, 02115, with Adrian Gonzales freshly minted, and Philadelphia, Citizens Bank Park, 19148, into Ryan Howard for long dollars, are out.
Here are some others that might open the vault:
10451—Yankee Stadium: Mark Texiera may be intent on being buried in a Yankee uniform but that doesn't mean the Bomber Brass won't be drooling over the prospect of bringing the games biggest bat to New York.
Would Pujols consider a $30 million dollar a year DH gig?
90090—Dodger Stadium is actually the only ballpark in the majors with it's own zip code, but that enough won't keep putting fannies in the seats in 2011 as the team figures to struggle mightily to keep up with their pitching rich, arch rival up in San Francisco.
By report, the team continues to be in a tall version of financial disarray under owner Frank McCourt who can't seem to legally separate himself once and for all from wife, Jaime, but even with that ongoing factor in play, one has to wonder how long the often prominent Dodgers can make due as an MLB afterthought.
Pujols in L.A. would make the team the biggest story in baseball if not a perennial contender for postseason duty. Plus he'd be playing for 'Donnie Baseball,' former Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly, one of the games all time technicians.
Would it be possible for Albert Pujols to improve on the mind boggling numbers he's put up over the past decade? Could he propel the Dodgers to World Series greatness?
That's a Hollywood story in waiting if we ever heard one.
92806—Angel Stadium: After a run of dominance in the AL West, the California Angels were beaten back by last years eventual AL Champion Texas Rangers. 2011 figures to bring more of the same and the Angels — who've been drawing well over three million So Cal die hards to the big ballpark these past five or six seasons — may very well find themselves in need of a top attraction, not to mention a major boost to their sagging offense, in 2012 and beyond.
11368—Citi Field: If the Mets don't have a desperate need for Albert Pujols, no team in the Major Leagues does.
The issue is whether or not the Wilpon's can get themselves out from under the ongoing Bernie Madoff mess — which appears unlikely — or if they might be able to change the mind of either Mayor Mike Bloomberg or TV Superstar Jerry Seinfeld, both noted Met fans, and get either to throw in for a cash infusing stake in the team.
94101—AT&T Park: The rest of Major League Baseball can only hope the pitching rich San Francisco Giants don't decide to open the purse-strings to Pujols.
Did anyone say dynasty in the making?
80205—Coors Field: We don't necessarily see Albert Pujols landing in Colorado, but taking sixty seconds to contemplate his potential production in the Mile High environment is certainly worth the price of admission.
60613—Wrigleyville: This landing spot probably makes the most sense for both sides. The Cubs have $40 million or more coming off the books at seasons end, have a need for a marquee presence, and the thought of Pujols in Wrigley is almost too good to be true if the accumulation of mind boggling offensive numbers happens to be your favored criteria for MLB fanaticism.
10 Years In The Books, What Can Pujols Do For an Encore?
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It doesn't get any easier when it comes to projecting seasonal output as Big Albert Pujols' career neatly breaks down over a 10-season span.
Almost all the numbers jump out at you, here's a summary representation:
Games AB Runs Hits Doubles HR RBI Walks OB% Slugging%
158 573 119 190 43 40 123 91 .426 .624
That's a pretty impressive compilation by any stretch, and as Pujols just turned 31 in January and looks to be the picture of strapping health, one can envision a great deal of productive baseball in his future.
The two-fold question is, how long and how productive?
Our most realistic estimate in terms of time frame, if Pujols really wants to chase all time numbers, is eight years.
As far as productivity we're going to say in a walk year Pujols' numbers will be up 10 percent.
First two years in new city, up 10 percent.
Years four, five and six flat against what you see above.
Years seven and eight down 10 percent against what you see above.
Now that goes for any ballpark in baseball but Wrigley. (Forget about Coors, that projection would be out the roof.)
Years two and three, up 20 percent.
Years four, five and six up 10 percent.
Years seven and eight, flat against what you see above.
In the slides that ensue we'll see where those numbers bring us as far as Albert Pujols' All Time standing in virtually every major offensive category. Below you'll find his up to date career numbers in full.
1558 Games
5733 At Bats
1186 Runs Scored
1900 Hits
426 Doubles
15 Triples
408 Home Runs
1230 Runs Batted In
75 Stolen Bases
914 Walks
646 Strikeouts
.331 Batting Average
.426 On Base Percentage
.624 Slugging Percentage
1.050 On Base & Slugging
3580 Total Bases
Base Hits
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We'll dispense with a few of the more mundane categories and stick with the primary issues of putting the bat on the ball and run production.
All Stadiums 3,436 Rank No. 6
Wrigley 3541 Rank No. 5
Pujols Rank Amongst All Time Hit Leaders
| 1. | Pete Rose | 4256 | B |
| 2. | Ty Cobb+ | 4189 | L |
| 3. | Hank Aaron+ | 3771 | R |
| 4. | Stan Musial+ | 3630 | L |
| 5. | Tris Speaker+ | 3514 | L |
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Doubles
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All Stadiums 770 Projected No. 2
Wrigley 797 Projected No. 1
| 1. | Tris Speaker+ | 792 | L |
| 2. | Pete Rose | 746 | B |
| 3. | Stan Musial+ | 725 | L |
| 4. | Ty Cobb+ | 724 | L |
| 5. | Craig Biggio | 668 | R |
Home Runs
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We don't know where A-Rod will end up on this list or a variety of others. For now all we can do is project Pujols against the All-Time career totals that actually exist.
All Stadiums 740 Projected No. 3
Wrigley 766 Projected No. 1
| 1. | Barry Bonds | 762 | L | HR Log |
| 2. | Hank Aaron+ | 755 | R | HR Log |
| 3. | Babe Ruth+ | 714 | L | HR Log |
| 4. | Willie Mays+ | 660 | R | HR Log |
| 5. | Ken Griffey (40) | 630 | L | HR Log |
Runs Scored
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All Stadiums 2146 Projected No. 7
Wrigley 2221 Projected No. 4
| 1. | Rickey Henderson+ | 2295 | R |
| 2. | Ty Cobb+ | 2246 | L |
| 3. | Barry Bonds | 2227 | L |
| 4. | Hank Aaron+ | 2174 | R |
| Babe Ruth+ | 2174 | L | |
| 6. | Pete Rose | 2165 | B |
| 7. | Willie Mays+ | 2062 | R |
Runs Batted In
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All Stadiums 2,222 Projected Rank No. 2
Wrigley 2,300 Projected Rank No. 1
| 1. | Hank Aaron+ | 2297 | R |
| 2. | Babe Ruth+ | 2213 | L |
| 3. | Cap Anson+ | 2075 | R |
| 4. | Barry Bonds | 1996 | L |
| 5. | Lou Gehrig+ | 1995 | L |
Batting Average
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Pujols' current lifetime .331 average is No. 29 on the all-time list.
| 1. | Ty Cobb+ | .3664 | L |
| 2. | Rogers Hornsby+ | .3585 | R |
| 3. | Shoeless Joe Jackson | .3558 | L |
| 4. | Lefty O'Doul | .3493 | L |
| 5. | Ed Delahanty+ | .3458 | R |
| 6. | Tris Speaker+ | .3447 | L |
| 7. | Billy Hamilton+ | .3444 | L |
| Ted Williams+ | .3444 | L | |
| 9. | Dan Brouthers+ | .3421 | L |
| Babe Ruth+ | .3421 | L | |
| 11. | Dave Orr | .3420 | R |
| 12. | Harry Heilmann+ | .3416 | R |
| 13. | Pete Browning | .3415 | R |
| 14. | Willie Keeler+ | .3413 | L |
| 15. | Bill Terry+ | .3412 | L |
| 16. | George Sisler+ | .3402 | L |
| 17. | Lou Gehrig+ | .3401 | L |
| 18. | Jesse Burkett+ | .3382 | L |
| Tony Gwynn+ | .3382 | L | |
| 20. | Nap Lajoie+ | .3381 | R |
| 21. | Jake Stenzel | .3378 | R |
| 22. | Riggs Stephenson | .3361 | R |
| 23. | Al Simmons+ | .3342 | R |
| 24. | Cap Anson+ | .3341 | R |
| 25. | John McGraw+ | .3336 | L |
| 26. | Eddie Collins+ | .3332 | L |
| Paul Waner+ | .3332 | L | |
| 28. | Mike Donlin | .3326 |
On Base Percentage
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Pujols is currently No. 11 All Time amongst on base leaders.
| Ted Williams | .482 (.4817) | 1 |
| Babe Ruth | .474 (.4739) | 2 |
| John McGraw | .465 (.4655) | 3 |
| Billy Hamilton | .455 (.4552) | 4 |
| Lou Gehrig | .447 (.4474) | 5 |
| Barry Bonds | .444 (.4443) | 6 |
| Rogers Hornsby | .434 (.4337) | 7 |
| Ty Cobb | .433 (.4330) | 8 |
| Jimmie Foxx | .428 (.4283) | 9 |
| Tris Speaker | .428 (.4279) | 10 |
| Albert Pujols | .426 (.4257) | 11 |
Slugging Percentage
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Pujols currently ranks No. 4 on All-Time Slugging Percentage list.
| Babe Ruth | .690 (.68972) | 1 |
| Ted Williams | .634 (.63379) | 2 |
| Lou Gehrig | .632 (.63242) | 3 |
| Albert Pujols | .624 (.62445) | 4 |
| Jimmie Foxx | .609 (.60929) | 5 |
| Barry Bonds | .607 (.60689) | 6 |
| Hank Greenberg | .605 (.60505) | 7 |
| Mark McGwire | .588 (.58817) | 8 |
| Manny Ramirez | .586 (.58648) | 9 |
| Joe DiMaggio | .579 (.57880) | 10 |
Where Would You Rank Pujols On The All Time List Of Productive Bats?
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Now that you've gotten a look at the projected numbers, where would you rank Albert Pujols amongst the most productive bats and prolific run producers in the history of the game?
Below, in no particular order, you'll find an ultra impressive group to ponder. See how you might slim it down a bit — with Pujols included— and arrange a top 10 of your own.
Ty Cobb
Rogers Hornsby
Ted Williams
Babe Ruth
Lou Gehrig
Willie Mays
Hank Aaron
Barry Bonds
Alex Rodriguez
Ken Griffey Jr.
Stan 'The Man' Musial
Mickey Mantle
Jimmy Foxx
Hank Greenberg
Joe DiMaggio
That's it for today,
DR
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