Prince Albert Pujols, he reigneth

his reigneth, continueith!

unanimoso!

lol at pts for Tejada

i love derrek lee but it's strange that someone gave him a second place vote

one 3rd place vote for todd helton, one 4th place for holliday, one 5th place apiece for carpenter, wainwright (vote split ;_;), werth, and yunel escobar.

has he ever played healthy?

according to the mang, the only day he is 100% healthy is day 1 of spring training.

seriously, seems like he spends every off season in the hospital. i think alex in SF said (maybe on this thread?): "imagine if he played healthy"

just remember tony lolrussa didn't want to play him until 300 yr old bobby bonilla got hurt

He won the league Triple Crown for the decade -- first to do it since Ted Williams in the '40s.

I think he won the Triple Crown for today, too. Pujols and Halladay begin their MVP showdown on even footing.

I have this guy on my fantasy team

feel like a total geek saying that but it's true & I'm stoked

Tell the rest of your lineup to go have a fantasy vacation--Albert will take care of all.

shield your eyes

hoffman's got nuffin

nice poke

that was really predictable

from Hell's Bells to Tinkerbelle

lol

so much reigneth

<3 albert

~fin~

casey mcgehee, he reigneth

3 hr game for prince albert today

single handedly pwning my fantasy team

I got way ahead of myself last year, but geez:

HR -- 32 (first, leading by one)
RBI -- 88 (first, leading by seven)
BA -- .316 (second, trailing by four points)

The four points translates to two hits; he's two singles shy of a Triple Crown right now.

I know I should be rooting for Votto (not just from Toronto, but the exact part of Toronto--Etobicoke--where I am), but I've been waiting forever for someone to win the Triple Crown, and Albert seems like an infinitely better bet. I especially like that he's got a cushion in RBIs, the one category that you can't really control. If my own team didn't have the third baseman having the fluky year, Cabrera would have a real shot too.

Sorry--expect updates after a good night (i.e., a good night for Albert):

Pujols -- 33/92/.319
Votto -- 29/86/.323
Some other guy -- 31 HR

I know it's August 24, but I find this is getting almost no attention at all. Is that because 1) it is way too early, 2) a Triple Crown involves three categories at once, and people don't process three things at once, 3) people take Pujols for granted (especially in a year where, compared only to his own established levels, his numbers are down), 4) Joey Votto's still not well known enough, or 5) coming out of the PED era, people simply don't get excited anymore about anything involving a hitter (or, here, two hitters) chasing some benchmark?

in my case, it's cuz BA and RBI aren't too important

also, you know, there's PRESEASON FOOTBALL, the Ground Zero Mosque of sports.

BA and RBI aren't too important

I come from a universe were they were, and I haven't abandoned them yet. They still have their uses. But you'll be glad to know that Albert's up there in the VORP/WAR/OPS+ race too.

ha ha. i'm sure the rise of sabermetrics might have something to do with disinterest in the triple crown.

Probably--certainly among writers. And I didn't mean to sound snarky. My head knows that BA is overrated, and that RBI are far too context-driven, but the Triple Crown still holds a lot of irrational aura for me. I started watching three years after Yaz's, so it's something I've been waiting forever to see.

the MSM is still obsessed w/ trad stats.

it would be funny if Pujols won the TC for his 6th- or 7th-best season (guessing)

And also, if Pujols does it--as opposed to, say, a Dante Bichette cosmic illusion, or even a Carlos Delgado having a career year--it will actually feel like something significant. Which is the main reason I'm pulling for him over Votto.

It's his 6th- or 7th-best for raw numbers, but is it in the context of the rest of the league? I don't know. This is the year of the pitcher (I made that up myself, just now), so intuition tells me that the mere fact he's so close to a Triple Crown must mean that he's dominating as much as ever in the context of league-wide stats.

is offense really down all that much?

Like I say, I don't know. But when you've got a guy leading the league with a .323 average, and a few starting pitchers with E.R.A.s in the low 2.00s, I have to believe so, at least in the N.L. Would .323 have even put you in the Top 10 seven or eight years ago?

probably - but i think avg leaders are usually roughly 25 points higher.

I'm amazed, but you may well be right. Here's a quick comparison of the NL this year to 2002, the year Bonds hit .370, and to '98:

1998: .262/.332/.410, 4.23
2002: .259/.331/.410, 4.11
2010: .257/.325/.401, 4.06

There's been some decline in offense, but not nearly as much as I would have guessed.

I seem to recall there are a lot more pitcher friendly parks in the league these days (SF, SD, ?), not that those slowed Bonds down much.

SF is a hitter's park according to bbref park factors... not sure where it got its reputation as a pitcher's park, i think it's just because the giants' offense has been so horrible since bonds left.

By the way, I'm pretty partial to "Clemenza," but if I do ever change my handle, I'm claiming ownership of "The Ground Zero Mosque of Sports" right now--thank you, Morbius.

Nothing stopping you from being "The Ground Zero Mosque of Sports (clemenza)"

EXCEPT THIS!

well that did not work out at all.

ok, it's yours.

after tonight's game, pujols is at .322 and joey votto is at .323

anyone see anything about what was the latest in a season that anyone's been leading for the triple crown since the last one?

There's a link somewhere upthread to a piece I wrote about Triple Crowns a few years ago, the year Delgado made a run at one, where I tried to weigh who's come the closest since '67. But I would think it'd be hard to find out who's led all three at the latest date since then, because my guess is that it wouldn't be very late at all; I wouldn't be surprised if no one's led all three after June or July. As opposed to chasing .400, where I know there have been at least a couple who where there in August and beyond (didn't Brett nudge over .400 in early September?).

Anyway, Votto had a big night last night, and Albert was 0-4. Canadians--I hate them.

Bonds would have won a couple times if he wasn't intentionally walked a zillion times. I think that's when people stopped caring about the triple crown.

Really? Bonds was so manifestly unpopular, I find it hard to believe he would have affected anybody one way or the other. If you didn't care about the Triple Crown to begin with, you still don't; if you did (like me), you still do. We went through the intentional walks upthread; without them, I don't think he ever would have won that batting title.