The Beauty of Albert Pujols
Beyond the numbers, the greatness of Albert Pujols’ legacy is in his drive for success
With one mighty swing, Albert Pujols added one more accomplishment to his Hall of Fame resumé. In Saturday’s win over the Minnesota Twins, a key grand slam by Pujols not only helped his team extend a 7–1 lead, it gained him membership to the 600 home run club. Only eight other players have reached such an accomplishment and with Pujols joining them, he secures his legacy with those greats.
Albert Pujols burst onto the scene as a slugging corner outfielder in 2001. Since then he has picked up lots of hardware, won multiple World Series winner, and posted lots of gaudy numbers. His career numbers by the end of his final season in St. Louis, 2011, already made him worthy argument for Hall of Fame induction.
At the end of the 2011 season, Pujols had 2,073 hits, 445 home runs, an OPS of 1.037. Add the 2001 NL Rookie of the Year, along with three MVP Awards, and six Silver Sluggers, it is hard to find many players to have that kind of success at the age of 31. That’s not to account for the four times he finished second in MVP voting.
From a statistics perspective, Pujols came up at the right time. For a player to post amazing power numbers, without sacrificing contact or on-base percentage seemed unlikely. Here was a player who would hit 35–45 home runs but still get on-base 42 percent of the time. To do it for over ten years is unreal. For the baseball fans who were embracing sabermetrics, it was statistic pornography.
So much of his success comes down to an attention to detail and a dedicated work ethic. St. Louis Cardinals beat writer Derrick Goold shared some accounts from Pujols’ former St. Louis teammates.
As Jon Jay recalled, “He had such a routine. He goes in the hot tub, gets a massage, goes in the cage, watches his film, takes his ground balls, comes in, reviews something and gets ready for the game. And I was thinking this morning about how much he had to do that to get to 600 home runs. He was always consistent with his routine. Always. Always. Always.”
For baseball players, that sense of concentration and dedication is tested over a 162-game regular season. In Pujols’ case, he was not missing many games, nor allowing a heavy workload to disrupt his routine. Then add on seven postseasons in St. Louis where he was playing baseball well into October.
His workout, even as a rookie, was built to challenge his hitting approach. As Daniel Habib wrote in his 2006 Sports Illustrated article, “A Swing of Beauty,” Pujols wanted to learn to hit throughout the entire strike zone.
The highlight of the article recounted how Cardinals coach Dave McKay would throw batting practice for Pujols targeting a slugger’s weakness — pitches to the outside third of the plate.
“From the very first day we saw him in camp, he wasn’t whaling. He’ll ask me to pitch him away, away, so he can concentrate on seeing the ball,” said McKay. “A lot of young guys will have a plan, but they’ll abandon it. They’ll come into a ballpark like Colorado and see if they can hit the scoreboard. He always has a routine.”
That routine paid off. Not just the 600 times that the at bat resulted in a home run but in 3,402 plate appearances that resulted in either a hit, walk or hit by pitch. His ability to see the ball and drive it with his swing paid off on Saturday. As Ervin Santana tried to use a breaking ball, low in the zone, to strike out Pujols, the hitter reached down and crushed it for number 600.
Replaying that highlight, fans see that swing and are constantly reminded of the many other times Pujols delivered in a big spot. He did it in his first career home run, tying the game with a solo shot. He hit a grand slam for his 200th home run. In the 2011 World Series, he had a three home run game. Many of us will always remember Pujols launching a Brad Lidge pitch into orbit during the 2005 NLCS.
Albert Pujols has been a blessing to the game of baseball. A player who showed slugging and great on base percentage are not mutually exclusive, he was dynamic due to his drive and dedication. His tireless routine provided us nearly two decades of superhuman numbers and countless memories.
