More importantly, he has now hit safely in 9 strait. I venture to guess that he has not done that in 3 years! He IS better now, but he still will never lead his team in anything ever again. The dough LA gave him borders about 4 notches below "absurd".
Those guys may hit 300 homers this year, but they will do nothing significant 'till they figure out the value of pitching and start spending accordingly.
After pounding his 496th home run, you could feel a little bit of joy for Albert Pujols. Big money or no, the Los Angeles Angels slugger had taken quite a tumble from his days as the game’s best ballplayer. He’s apparently healed up completely from last year’s plantar fasciitis that “resolved” into a partial plantar fascia tear, ending his season two months early and sticking him with the worst numbers of his career: His highest ground-ball rate, his lowest power numbers (both in terms of slugging and Isolated Power). And it’s hard not to envision how a weaker Pujols wasn’t someone who was easier to get to make hit your pitch, contributing to a career-low walk rate and batting average on balls in play.
But that was last year, and his recent run of clouting four home runs in his past six games is a nice reminder of what Pujols can be when he can stand on two feet. And, more importantly, when he can dig in again and really use the lower-body strength that produced one of the best power hitters at any position, let alone first base.
It's sure getting harder and harder to impress us these days.
Here we are, on the brink of one of the most magnificent milestones in all of sports, and it seems nobody cares.
Just 25 men in Major League Baseball history have ever hit 500 homers in their lifetime, and here's Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols ready to join them after hitting No. 496 on Monday night.
Yet it's getting all of the acclaim of an NBA triple-double.
What has happened to us?
"I don't know what has happened.'' Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson tells USA TODAY Sports. "It should be front and center. There have almost been 18,000 players who have played our game, and only 25 have hit 500 homers.
"We've had a string of power hitters achieve the mark in the past decade, but that shouldn't diminish how big of a mark it really is.''
Just 25 men in Major League Baseball history have ever hit 500 homers in their lifetime, and here's Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols ready to join them after hitting No. 496 on Monday night.
Yet it's getting all of the acclaim of an NBA triple-double.
What has happened to us?
Well, the lineup of the Cannes Film Festival just came out today, so you can forget about coverage from Entertainment Weekly and Variety.
"We've had a string of power hitters achieve the mark in the past decade, but that shouldn't diminish how big of a mark it really is.''
Why not?
There have almost been 18,000 players who have played our game, and only 25 have hit 500 homers.
Just a guess but maybe that's why not.
Well, that list has gotten expanded of late by people like Gary Sheffield and Rafael Palmeiro who never even won a single season HR title. The home run lists have been devalued in recent years, that's just a fact.
12 men have walked on the moon... even looking at the list I recognized 5 names. Doesn't diminish the accomplishment. But being #26 to do almost anything is noteworthy amongst a very small number of people.