Albert Pujols Clinches Hall of Fame Today
With his 3rd MVP, Albert Pujols cruises into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Yes, I believe he’s already made a case for induction. (Though technically, Pujols has to play one more season to be eligible.) He’s probably a Cooperstown guy even without the 3rd MVP but the award’s symbolic power makes it certain. Done.
All 7 of the three-time MVPs who are eligible for the Hall are in the Hall, and Pujols is set to join them.
But there’s much more to it to Pujols’ Hall of Fame case.
* Let’s take a look at awards and leaderboards:
3 MVPs.
Pujols has finished in the top 10 of MVP voting in each of his first nine MLB seasons. Only two others in the game’s history have done that: Stan Musial and Willie Mays.
Pujols has three second-place MVP finishes. And he is one of only four players to have four top-three finishes in MVP voting; the others are Ted Williams, Musial and Yogi Berra.
AP is one of only five players in MLB history to win three MVPs in a five-year period.
Rookie of the Year, 2001
8 All Star Games.
5 Silver Sluggers; has won them at three different positions (OF, 3B, 1B.)
1 league batting title, and has finished in the top 5 six times.
1 league HR title, and has finished second twice. Has been among the top 4 six times.
Has been second in the NL in RBIs twice; has finished in the top 5 eight times.
1 Gold Glove (should be more.)
4 times leading league in slugging; finished 2nd twice and in the top 3 six times.
4 times leading league in onbase percentage; has been 2nd twice and in the top 3 six times.
4 times leading league in runs.
4 times leading league in total bases; finished in the top 4 three other times.
3 times leading league in runs created; finished 2nd or 3rd three times.
Pujols has been the best player on a STL team that’s made the playoffs in six of his nine seasons.
And I’ve left some things out.
* Another question about a Hall of Fame candidacy is this: did the player dominate his era?
With Pujols the answer is an emphatic ‘Yes.’
He’s atop most NL leaderboards for the decade of the aughts, even though he didn’t make his major-league debut until 2001. But here’s where Pujols ranks in the NL in the decade in key categories:
Batting Average #1, at .334
RBIs #1 with 1,112
Homers # 1, with 366
OBP #3, at .436
SLG # 2, at .628
Runs Created # 2, with 1,244
Total Bases #1, with 3,230
Go-Ahead RBIs #1 with 284
Game-Winning RBIs #1 with 169
BA with Runners in Scoring Position # 2 at .345
* OK, what about the postseason? Believe it or not, I’ve received e-mails critical of Pujols’ postseason performance; for some reason there are people out there who think he hasn’t gotten much done.
But in NL postseason baseball this decade, Pujols is 5th in batting average (.322), 2nd in RBIs (36), tied for 1st in homers (13), 3rd in OBP (.431) and 4th in SLG (.578).
* What about Pujols’ historical impact?
He’s still climbing in the so-called “counting” stats, but still has the numbers, at least in my view.
Pujols has the highest OBP+SLG by a righthanded hitter in baseball history at 1.055. That’s huge. (Rogers Hornsby ranks ahead of Pujols in adjusted OPS, but I don’t necessarily buy into the methodology used to calculate that. Again, sabermetrics are fine. I like the ‘metrics for the most part. But using your entire mind instead of letting a comptuter think for you is preferrable. At least I believe it is.)
Pujols’ .334 career average ranks 24th all-time. His career onbase percentage ranks 13th. He’s No. 4 in slugging. He has the 4th-highest OPS among all hitters who played the game.
As for the counting stats, Pujols will gradually move up the charts. He’s 69th in homers with 366. And he’s 184th in RBIs with 1,112. But with another 100 RBIs Pujols will move ahead of 14 Hall of Famers, including Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan, Bill Dickey, Tony Gwynn, George Sisler, Earl Averill and Gabby Hartnett.
I wouldn’t get too caught up in the counting stats, though some will.
And I didn’t even get into his defensive work and the multiple “Fielding Bible” awards Pujols has garnered for his fielding at first base.
* Here’s the bottom line:
If you check the Albert Pujols page at Baseball-Reference.com, you’ll see that Pujols has a Hall of Fame Moinitor score of 218. A score of 100 is considered “average” among Hall of Famers. A score of 130 is considered a “virtual lock” for Cooperstown. There’s also the Black Ink Test, which assesses Hall of Fame worthiness based on how many times a player led his league in a statistical category. A score of 27 is considered Hall of Fame Caliber; Pujols’ score is 34. For the Gray Ink Test — a formula derived from how many times a player finished in the top 10 of league stats categories — Pujols comes out with a 189 score. The Hall of Fame standard is 144.
To surpass those tough standards only nine seasons into a career is extraordinary.
Pujols will always have his share of bizarro critics, even among Cardinals fans. But it’s rare that we get the chance to watch an actual Hall of Fame career in progress so soon in a player’s career. Usually the player (Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr. , etc.) is down to his final tank of gas, and taking a curtain call. Not Pujols. We’re seeing a player with many years to go who already is a shoo-in for Cooperstown.
Thanks for reading.
-B
Bingo
I just try to not take Pujols greatness for granted. I know that every game I get to watch Albert play, I am witnessing a transcendant talent. Albert is the Tiger Woods of baseball. I feel lucky as a sports fan to be a witness to 2 of the greatest ever in their respective sports.
I can remember people badmouthing Mantle, Mays, and Aaron (and of course Ted Williams), Musial escaped by and large, but I do remember one or two people from those days who just plain did not like him — for no reason they could rationally discuss.
I love your comment about “did a player dominate his era?” as criteria for Hall of Fame candidacy. IMO, that should be first and foremost. If you don’t do that your definitely not worthy no matter what a deep dive into the stats may indicate. Pujols has definitely dominated his era and now it’s just a matter of how he will be viewed in comparison to the greatest of all time (Ruth, Mays, Bonds).
There have been a few cases of players who had brief but very brilliant careers and got in the Hall. One who would be familiar to Cardinal fans is Dizzy Dean. Thurmon Munson is another name that comes to mind. He died at age 32, after 11 seasons. Pujols’ stats blow Munson’s away, but Munson gets extra credit for being a catcher, the most demanding position in the game. Still, if Munson got in, Pujols should get in.
Pujols’ critics aren’t unprecedented. I grew up watching George Brett in Kansas City, and there was always a knock on Brett. My dad always told me Brett was a future Hall of Famer, but listening to most Royals fans could make one wonder. Cal Ripken Jr. had critics in Baltimore too, as hard as that is to imagine today.
I think last week’s Cy Young vote made a really strong argument for Pujols as MVP. Normalize the stats of Lincecum, Wainwright and Carpenter, and Lincecum had the better year. In the real world, Lincecum won fewer games than Wainwright and Carpenter. I’ll argue that the biggest difference was that Lincecum didn’t play on the same team as Pujols.
Speaking as a Royals fan, if Cardinals fans ever tire of Pujols, the Royals will be more than happy to take him off the Cardinals’ hands. I’m not sure if Zack Greinke, Joaquim Soria and Billy Butler for Pujols is really a fair trade though.
I totally agree…but he needs to play another season before he is eligible for the Hall of Fame since players can’t be inducted until they have played at least 10 years. As long as things go according to plan, he is definitely a shoo-in.
Bernie,
I think the best point you make is about Albert’s lack of gold gloves. I don’t really think you can take an award seriously if the best players at their respective positions for the last 5 years (Pujols and Utley) only have 1 combined gold glove. I just don’t know what is more of a crock…Pujols only having one, or that 50 years from now Cubs fans will talk about how much better defensively Ryne Sandberg was than Utley because he has 10 gold gloves.
I forgot about the 10-year rule. I went back and changed it. Thank you very much for pointing that out.
B
You don’t need to be a sabermatrician to know this guy is one of the best ever. Ten year rule or not (and I’d bet they’d waive it for him) he’s in.
If Albert Pujols doesn’t make the Hall of Fame, they should lock the doors to the place. If he doesn’t go in on the first ballot, they should throw away the key. If he’s not unanimous — I know, there’s never been a unanimous selection to the Hall of Fame — then the voters who don’t vote for him should have their meds checked. I know that Albert has a reputation for being stand-offish at times to the media, but he’s by far the best all-around player of our generation. Cards fans are lucky to have him. He’s one of the reasons I still pay attention to the Cardinals.