Coverboy Albert Pujols tops Sporting News’ list as MLB’s best
SOUTH GRAND — His second MVP trophy and upfront comments about the drug cloud over baseball put him on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the baseball star who can be trusted. His April surge made him the National League Player of the Month and the topic of local watercooler chatter: Could he be the one to win a Triple Crown? And now St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols finds himself on another cover of a national magazine.
He’s Sporting News’ No.1 Player in Baseball, according to a panel of experts polled by the magazine.
Pujols “is the best hitter in baseball right now,” Frank Robinson told Sporting News, according to a release from the magazine this morning. “But also, you could put him at any position - first, third, outfield - and he could play it like an All-Star. That’s why he’s the top player in the game.”
The Cardinals first baseman was the “runaway winner”, according to editor Jeff D’Alessio. Pujols received 55 first-place votes from the panel of about 100 former players, writers and baseball folk. The panel included such former Cardinals as Larry Walker and Andy Benes, and it included Hall of Famers like Robinson, Stan Musial, Tony Gwynn, Willie McCovey, Tom Seaver and Brooks Robinson. Thirteen Hall of Famers were on the panel, 12 league MVPs and 13 former Cy Young Award winners, like Greg Maddux.
The top 10 players in baseball according to the panel:
- Albert Pujols
- Alex Rodriguez
- Johan Santana
- Manny Ramirez
- Hanley Ramirez
- Chase Utley
- Roy Halladay
- Derek Jeter
- Mariano Rivera
- Chipper Jones
St. Louis native Ryan Howard finished 11th in the voting. Pujols was the only Cardinal to make the list. The New York Mets had the most players on the list with six. According to a release from the team, panelists were given a description to use when voting on the “greatest players” in the game:
Panelists were asked to determine what greatness meant to them and vote accordingly. Many of the former pitchers placed a higher premium on that aspect; others favored hitting, leadership, defense or a combination thereof. Panelists were also instructed to vote for the greatest players in today’s game, not the current players who’ve necessarily had the greatest careers. Hanley Ramirez, in just his fourth full major league season, was the youngest player to make the top 10 (25).
The entire package, which includes a lineup card written by Boston manager Terry Francona, will be in the next edition of the Sporting News. The cover, featuring Pujols, is pasted below.
Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols is the magazine's No. 1 player in baseball in annual poll.
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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 a good thing they didn’t ask ex-Cardinal pitcher and current MLB Network analyst Joe Magrane what he thought. A couple nights ago he said if he could pick anyone in baseball to build a team around it would be Evan Longoria. Great player, but come on…is he serious!
Good thing the home town mag didn’t pick someone else.
I believe there is a common thought out there by alot of baseball people that Longoria would be the first pick if you could draft current players to start a team. He does have youth and plays a position with not alot of top end talent. ESPN Mag just had an article indicating this.
Sporting News has totally pulled out of STL I believe. They are based in Charlotte, NC, now.
As it should be.
Derek Jeter? Really? So he’s better than Youkilis, Sizemore, Wright, Rollins, Josh Hamilton, Adrian Gonzalez, Kinsler, Teixeira, Bay, Longoria, Soriano, etc? I could go on and on.
I’ve always liked Jeter and get tired of the “Jeter is overrated” crowd. But his inclusion at #8 makes the rest of this list fraudulent. Yes, they got #1 and #2 right, but that’s tough to mess up.
Not really the home town mag anymore. They moved to North Carolina over a year ago.
Third base? Not a lot of top talent? Alex Rodriguez. David Wright. Longoria. Ryan Zimmerman. Chipper Jones, Mike Lowell, Aramis Ramirez … People tend to pick Longoria as the “one to build a franchise around” because of promise, because of position, because of age … and lest we forget … because of the contract.
On the SN website, there are also a couple of lists by SN editors. Yadi made one list at #50 (and the only other Catcher besides Mauer, who made that list as #2). I think McCann from Atlanta made the main list, but as a whole catchers weren’t well represented. Maybe the rest of the country is starting to realize that Yadi is one of the best catchers in the game right now.
During the Cardinals’ Sunday game with Milwaukee, the Fox announcers for Milwaukee had a poll asking who you would want to build a team around, Pujols or Ryan Braun. They said it would be a tough choice because Braun is “comparable” to Pujols. Yes, Braun is good, but c’mon, how do you compare Albert’s 9 years of incredible consistency and leadership (not to mention his 2 MVP’s, gold glove, and assorted other awards)?
Wow, that’s odd! After listening to all of those Brewer fans I would have thought Ryan Braun would be #1.
I’m surprised Jeter and Rivera are in the top 10. They are definitely HOFers but in the twilight of their careers and not the players they were 5 years ago. I would have guessed that Grady Sizemore, Ryan Braun, Jose Reyes, and Ichiro would have cracked the top 10 or 12. They got #1 correct. Pujols is the greatest player of the 21 century.
It’s a good thing they didn’t ask ex-Cardinal pitcher and current MLB Network analyst Joe Magrane what he thought. A couple nights ago he said if he could pick anyone in baseball to build a team around it would be Evan Longoria. Great player, but come on…is he serious!
— stlbluespower
11:25 am May 20th, 2009
I saw this segment…they were referring to the young players that have entered the league in the last 2-3 years. Albert is now an established superstar.
Glad to see those Brewer fans know their baseball players… lol
I have no faith in a list that includes A-Rod and Manny.
I read an article last night from Peter King (Sports Illustrated), who said Yogi Berra is the greatest living baseball player….couldn’t believe it. I told him he was right that it was a native St.Louisan, but he got the wrong guy. Hard to believe someone would think that over Stan the Man. Told him to stick to football. Seems to me that the “establishment” has lost it’s direction. When I was a kid, you could always count on reality to base things on when it came to baseball, not some hyped up crap. You never used to hear that the Red Sox/Yankees was the best rivalry in baseball, it was always Cubs/Cards. Now it’s totally crammed down our throats.
Good to see El Hombre getting his due.
8,9 & 10 is a joke. At one time top 10 players but now? Ryan Braun definitely needs to be on the list along with Longoria and Felix Hernandez.
“I am..I am not…I am not a…I am not a machine”
AP
derek jeter should not be anywhere near the top of that list
he should be light yeras from the top 10
West Coast Ram, The Sporting News is no longer a hometown magazine. They moved out east a few months ago.
The Sporting News bailed on Saint Louis last year. They are now based in ATL.
Good thing the home town mag didn’t pick someone else.
— west coast ram
11:33 am May 20th, 2009
I’m almost as tired of hearing about Albert’s greatness as I am having to hear about how Cardinal fans are the most knowledgable in baseball. ENOUGH! Tonight he hit a double and I had to listen to the whole “Alberts great” speech (from Shannon) for three minutes. Can the guy field a ball, hit a ball or run a base without having to hear “The Greatness speech”? ENOUGH ALREADY!!!
Ramfan, Sporting News is now based in Baltimore. You SoCo guys are always so hip and up to date. You need to read the internets more.
ripper do us a favor and blog here from now on: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
So far we have Georgia, Maryland and Carolina for possible homes for the Sporting News. Maybe there should be a Top 10 list of places the Sporting News is now located.
Everyone is going to have their own take on this list. TSN tried their best to get the opinion of 100 different people associated with baseball.
Glad to see AP get a pat on the back, but it is just a list. I’m sure he’d shrug it off if he was asked his opinion of being chosen #1.
The sports casters, especially the local ones, make a bigger deal out of these lists than the players do.
How can Jeter and Mariano Rivera make the top 10? Sounds like a useless list, even if they got Pujols correct.
if the game is on the line, i want jeter at bat over just about anybody. good choice for pujols at number 1 though.