Title Bout: Jones pulling away from Pujols
CHICAGO — Not to be lost in how the recent losing streak slowed — complicated? — the Cardinals push for a winning record this season, it may also have a damaged Albert Pujols’ MVP candidacy. Ryan Howard, he of 138 RBIs and a .248 batting average, seems to be gaining momentum in the minds of voters, and part of the reason is the triple-crown titles he’s likely to win.
He has 24 more RBIs than anyone in the NL this morning, and eight more homers.
Pujols, meanwhile, has drifted from the batting title race, leaving Chipper Jones about 10 points up. Winning that race, would certainly aid his MVP candidacy and help him recover from what one Pujols advocate pointed out to me yesterday: During the Cardinals’ seven-game losing streak Pujols went 7-for-28 (.250) with zero home runs, three RBIs, two walks and three strikeouts. That hurt his claim to the batting-title race. That, the advocate said, may also have bruised Pujols’ MVP bid.
The season is 162 games long, and yet it seems each year — especially recently — these 20 or so games at the end are used to separate the MVP candidates. That was part of what happened in 2006. Pujols had a career year. Howard had a great September.
Howard won the MVP.
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CHIPPER JONES - .3649 (158-for-433)
vs. New York Mets, at Turner Field
Career vs. Mets: .331 (188 games)
2008 vs. Mets: .385 (15-for-39)
Career at Turner Field: .323 (867 games)
2008 at home: .404 (93-for-230)
Career vs. Oliver Perez, Friday: .478 (11-for-23)
Career vs. Pedro Martinez, Saturday: .191 (9-for-47)
Career vs. Mike Pelfrey, Sunday: .300 (3-for-10)
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ALBERT PUJOLS - .3541 (176-for-497)
vs. Chicago Cubs, at Wrigley Field
Career vs. Cubs: .297 (126 games)
2008 vs. Cubs: .378 (17-for-45)
Career at Wrigley Field: .296 (69-for-233)
2008 on the road: .349 (87-for-249)
Career vs. Carlos Zambrano, Friday: .250 (13-for-52)
Career vs. Ted Lilly, Saturday: .346 (9-for-26)
Career vs. Ryan Dempster, Sunday: .276 (8-for-29)
Will be back with the baseball cards. Hard to find just the right ones. Taking suggestions …
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
It’s all part of a Sad-September-To-Dismember scenario for Card fans. Sinking like the Lusitania in the standings. Ankiel - gone under the knife after a bad 2nd half. Glaus - cooled off toward his statistical mean. Ludwick - ice, baby, piling up K’s instead of RBI’s. And Pujols MVP credentials getting just a little fuzzy (harder to justify 4th place teams’ candidates, no?) Team defense springing leaks left and right after a solid five month run (”Hello, Felipe Lopez!”)
Howard has struckout a total of 190 times. Since when is that acceptable? AP has a higher OBP, a higher BA, and a higer OPS. That is 190 times that Howard has not put the ball in play. Even though HRs are an important stat when looking at MVP canidates, we should look at more than just who hit the ball over the fence the most times. We should take into consideration the impact the player has on his team ,and the Birds would not be in contention this late in the year if AP was not in the lineup everyday.
I thought AP looked good at the plate last night. Previous to last nights game he had been pulling everything ,and was a bit anxious the first two games of the series. He was out in front of a lot of stuff. Maybe, he can go on a tear the last week of the season, and make up some ground.
DG, what did you make of Perez’s appearance last night? Yes, he was a bit wild, but I was impressed with the offspeed stuff that he threw. He threw a 3-1 breaking ball to Javier Valentin, he obviously has gained some confidence in his stuff other than his FB.
Chicago Larry, I’m wondering how high (low) the baby bears finished in the standings when Ernie Banks won back-to-back MVP’s in the late fifties? Cards are down, but your guys haven’t won anything yet. One thing ‘04 and ‘06 taught me was that winning the World Series may be the hardest thing to do in sports. First you have to make the playoffs, then win the division series, then win the pennant and then win the Series. If all of this had been in play 100 years ago, Cubbies may not have finished the job then. I do wish you luck as a Central Division rep. because you’re going to need some. Jack’s Grandpa
In looking at the pic of Sorano in this article…
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/32FFCED6534AEA49862574CA007CAC6A?OpenDocument
It appears he has pine tar too far up the bat.
Here is the pine tar rule…
Rule 1.10(c) of the 2002 Official Rules of Major League Baseball states that batters may apply pine tar only from the handle of the bat extending up for 18 inches.
Maybe I don’t understand it…but thought you would be interested!
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