Los Angeles Angels: On dismissing the great Pujols RBI run
Los Angeles Angels DH Albert Pujols is likely to end his career in second place on the career RBI list, and with a little luck, he may be first.
A recent filler list on my local newspaper’s scoreboard page prompted me to access the career stats for Los Angeles Angels star Albert Pujols. That list involved the top five career RBI men in major league history, a handful of remarkably important players in the history of the game.
Smack dab in the middle of that top five was Pujols, sandwiched immediately between two steroid cheats – Alex Rodriguez above him and Barry Bonds now below, who were, in turn, sandwiched between the all-time leader – Henry Aaron – and that bum in fifth place – Lou Gehrig.
The day the list I was looking at was printed, Pujols had 2058 RBI.
The day I accessed Pujols’ data on-line, Sept. 18, he had 2071, exactly 15 RBI away from tying A-Rod for second on the all-time list at 2086. Roughly 15 months ago he was ninth on the list, and it was predicted he would likely be the last 2000 RBI-man “for quite a while.”
Pujols’ climb up this list has been one of the unsung melodies of this baseball season. Those accessing this website’s Angels page Sept. 18, for example, had to scroll through 15 stories before hitting one with a focus on Pujols. And that piece made no mention of any Pujols RBI total except, in passing, how many he had amassed as a St. Louis Cardinal.
Ignoring Albert Pujols ascension on the career RBI list is the result of a number of factors.
First, RBI stats are among the most anonymous in baseball, a sport that is nothing but numbers, numbers, and more numbers. The average fan, however, probably says only one or two things about RBI: “A hundred is good,” and (perhaps) “that Hack Wilson was really something.”
Almost none of those fans can tell you the year Wilson drove 191 runs (1930), he was putting up nearly 20 percent of his career total. Aaron’s career total of 2297 RBI is a number not one in ten “real” baseball fans can give you with even marginal precision.
Other Reasons He’s Ignored
Second, Albert Pujols’ reputation has in some circles has degenerated into a casual point of reference for dismissing long-term contracts for any player over the age of, say, 24. Pujols is now in the eighth year of his ten-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels; that contract is slated to pay him $269 million altogether. It was signed after the player’s age-31 season.
For their money, the Angels have gotten low and high batting marks of .241 and .285, OPS low-high figures of .672 and .859, and low-highs for RBI of 64 (twice) and 119 – in 2016. Pujols other two highs here were in his first season with the Halos.
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In his time with the Angels, Pujols has managed to become the all-time career leader in grounding into double plays, and his team has made the playoffs only one year. You have to make you own decision about whether $269 million paid to one player should have produced more for a team placing exactly one other great player on their lineup cards while Overpaid Pujols appeared there as well.
Finally, many casual fans are doubtful about all modern players who put up great numbers despite the facts that Pujols’ physical appearance has never suggested PED use, and that he has been accused only once – by a former teammate who presented hearsay evidence. Pujols sued that accuser, eventually extracted an apology from him, and then dropped the lawsuit.
To return more pointedly to the subject of Pujols and RBI, however, it must first be pointed out that although he has passed 100 RBI four times with the Los Angeles Angels, his average RBI total with them has been 92.75 for eight years, figuring in this year’s 89. The average figure will obviously go up a bit unless Albert can’t drive in even a single run for the rest of the year.
It seems extremely unlikely that he won’t pass Rodriguez, if not in the last few days of this season, then in April next year. His manager, Brad Ausmus, said a few days ago that Albert Pujols has been the team’s “most consistent hitter the last 40-something games. He’s had a really nice season, quite frankly. Not only does he drive in runs, he’s a very smart hitter.”
Next. Yankees: Luis Severino shines in season debut. dark
It is perhaps time to consider whether this very smart hitter can catch Mr. Aaron for the all-time RBI lead. It says here that, barring injury, it’s quite possible. That fact would be the best candidate for line one on his plaque in Cooperstown.