Albert Pujols - El Hombre- Stan Musial

Check out this quote from Albert Pujols regarding his nickname, El Hombre. Apparantly Albert doesn’t want to be called El Hombre anymore out of respect for Stan “the man” Musial.

“I don’t want to be called that,” Pujols said. “There is one man that gets that respect, and that’s Stan Musial. He’s the Man. He’s the Man in St. Louis. And I know ‘El Hombre’ means ‘The Man’ in Spanish. But Stan is The Man. You can call me whatever else you want, but just don’t call me El Hombre.”

No dis-respect to Stan Musial, but Albert Pujols (el hombre) is the man around St. Louis now.  Albert Pujols made this claim to the media asking them not to call him El Hombre.  So what should we call him as a nickname?  The Machine?

Some interesting trivia regarding Albert Pujols and some of the all-time greatest MLB players.  Take a quick glance at the stats comparisons below.  Sorry for the jumbled numbers, but you can dump them into excel if you’d like  :)

Player AB Runs Hits 2B’s 3B’s HR’s RBI’s SB’s BB’s SO’s AVG SLG TB RP

Pujols 571 119 191 43 2 41 124 7 90 63 .344 .628 361 202

Rodriguez 597 127 127 33 2 45 129 20 79 123 .311 .601 358 211

Aaron 597 113 190 31 7 40 121 13 62 71 .318 .594 354 194

Mays 583 121 186 30 9 42 112 20 75 68 .320 .615 358 191

Mantle 518 117 161 23 6 38 102 11 111 107 .311 .598 309 180

Griffey 553 104 167 31 3 42 118 14 74 98 .301 .595 329 180

RP (Runs produced = runs + rbi’s – hr’s)

Albert Pujols stats listed above are his 9 year average.  The other players stats include their best 10 year average.  Enough said.  ALBERT PUJOLS IS THE GREATEST BASEBALL PLAYER EVER!

p.s. – Thanks to Jason for sending us this info!

Albert Pujols finally spoke to the media the other day about his “future” in St. Louis.  Did he give us any answers?  No.  But he said some very interesting things.  Albert is a very smart guy and he covers all his bases.  As some put it, you can pretty much hear what you want to hear.  But all in all, Albert didn’t give us much to go with.  The one thing he was confident about was that he wasn’t going to discuss his contract situation during the upcoming season.  Pujols is the definition of focus and attention to detail.  As Cardinal fans, we should be pumped that Albert wants to focus on the season and not on his contract.

So here were a few quotes from the evening.  This media discussion was from the Winter Warmup.

“When that time comes, if it’s taking a discount to make this organization better, I want to have a great organization to be in the playoffs every year if we can,” he said.

“Right now I still have a couple of years,” he said. “That’s something that I don’t need to worry about right now. When my time comes, I’ll deal with that. Right now, my job is to let my agent do the talking and I’ll go and prepare for baseball. We’re open. We’re open to talk about it. I can tell you one thing, when the season starts we ain’t talking anything about it. Because my focus is to help this organization to win, and that’s it.

“If it comes to that [free agency], then that’s fine. That’s the decision that they decide to make, and that’s it. Do I want to become a free agent? No, but if it happens, then I have to deal with it. I want to play baseball, so I have to deal with my free agency and go play either here or somewhere else.”

So what do you guys think?  With the addition of Matt Holliday to the Redbirds lineup for years to come, I have got to think El Hombre wants to stay a Cardinal for life.  He may take a small discount but the Cardinals have to know they can’t go small on Albert.  GO LARGE or GO HOME.  Hopefully the Cardinals will step up to the plate and give Albert Pujols the lifetime largest contract he deserves.

On Dec. 5th, the Pujols Family Foundation is hosting its annual O Night Divine Christmas Celebration to raise funds and awareness for the Pujols Family Foundation, an IRS 501 (c) (3) organization benefiting children with Down syndrome, disabilities and life threatening illnesses as well as children living in impoverished conditions and orphanages in the Dominican Republic.

The 5th Annual O Night Divine Christmas Celebration
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis, MO
6:30 reception; 7 p.m. dinner

Five-course dinner with white-glove service.
Live and silent auctions.
Celebrity guest include athletes, sports personalities
Live music
$300 a Ticket per person, (10 guest per table)
This is an alcohol-free event. Seating is limited

For more  information go to www.pujolsfamilyfoundation.org where Tickets can be purchased online.
or email info@pujolsfamilyfoundation.org
or call the foundation at 314-878-2105

Be sure you grab a copy of the latest Sporting News and keep it around in your “Pujols” or Cardinal collection  :)  I know you have one!

.327 batting average(tied in 3rd in NL) – leader Hanley Ramirez – .351

38 homeruns (1st)

102 runs batted in(1st)

91 runs(1st)

Keep on supporting our boy Albert Pujols! If you haven’t yet, JOIN US here at AlbertPujolsClub!

Albert Pujols was slumping.  This had become clear to both Cardinal fans and other MLB fans across the nation.  Albert was in a 0-13 streak and batting just over .200 over the past few weeks.  So the questions arose… What is wrong with Albert?  Albert doesn’t usually go through these types of slumps?  Is his elbow ok?  Is he fatigued?  Was he roiding?  Albert tried to quiet everyone and made it very clear that his swing is the same and he feels fine.  Pujols knows that the game of baseball isn’t EASY!  Sometimes he makes it look easy, but there are things that he can improve everyday.  Pujols commented,

“I was more frustrated with you guys asking questions: ‘Was my elbow OK?’ or trying to figure out why I’m struggling,” he said. “C’mon. Give me a break. Everybody struggles in this game. I’m human. Like I said in that (ESPN) commercial, I’m not a machine. I work hard and make sure I’m ready every day. Some days I’m going to pick my teammates up. I didn’t put my head down and feel sorry for myself. I tried to find my swing and that’s what I did. This is something you turn the page on and come back tomorrow.”

So a trip to New York against the former Cy Young Johan Santana and best closer in the NL K-Rod was just what the doctor ordered… Right?  Apparantly yes!  Pujols stormed out of his slump with a 4-5 night and 2 HR’s, 5 RBI’s.  The biggest one coming on his 5th Grandslam of the season and 11th of his career in the 10th inning, giving the Cardinals the win.  I guess he’s back critics.  Pujols commented after the big win in New York,

“It’s the same swing I’ve been taking for two weeks,” said Pujols, the majors’ home run leader who entered Tuesday without a homer since July 17 while confronting a 12-for-58 funk in which he had only three RBIs. “Sometimes you’re going to get hits. Sometimes you’re going to make outs. That’s the way this game is. You’re not going to be perfect every time. You guys can try to figure it out. You will never figure it out. I can try to figure it out and I’ll never figure it out. Why think about it?”

Albert is now 7-9 with 24 RBI’s with the bases loaded this year.  That’s a ridiculous stat for such a ridiculous player.  Keep mashing Albert!

Apparently Albert likes more than just baseball. He recently interviewed with LikeMe.Net where he shared his recommendations on favorite restaurants, clubs and hotels in St. Louis and on the road with fans.

You can see his video at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gd7xnFmcks

Check out his recommendation page at:

http://www.likeme.net/users/albertpujols/recommendations

Wow, I haven’t been so excited about a single event, since 2006 when I went to game five of the World Series. The All Star Game is coming to St. Louis. This should be a great time for any fans, especially those of the host St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis will be buzzing, and I fully expect to take part in all of the action. Here is the game plan:

Friday July 10 – Tuesday July 14th: All Star Game Fan Fest at America’s Center. This is pretty fun. I had the pleasure of seeing this when Chicago hosted several years back. Great chances for autographs and a ton of fun interactive games. Look for me to enjoy this like a little kid throughout the weekend.

Saturday July 11- All Star concert featuring Sheryl Crow. Whether you like Sheryl Crow or not, this will be a fun event to kick-off the big weekend.

Sunday July 12 – All Star Game 5k race – as a runner, I do plan to take part in this great event. There is supposed to be legends along the running route and possibly mascots along the route as well. Should be a good time. I just hope I can survive the St. Louis heat and finish the 3.1 mile course that starts at beautiful Busch Stadium.

Sunday July 12 – Futures Game and Celebrity Softball Game – the futures game always provides some of the best upcoming talent into the Major Leagues. The Celebrity Softball game is just that. A game where celebrities look to try to show off on the softball field. This will be worth a laugh a minute. This will take place on the Busch Stadium field on Sunday.

Sunday July 12- Cardinals/Cubs doubleheader in Chicago. WOW! What a weekend, Cardinals and Cubs. Both teams are at or near the top in the National League Central. My plan is to hit up the great Pujols5 resturant and kick back and watch these two baseball games. Go Cardinals!

Monday July 13- All Star game workout and Homerun Derby. Who DOESN’T think our man Albert Pujols will NOT win the homerun derby? All you people that are going to be standing outside the stadium for this event. WATCH OUT! Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols are the two front runners to win this baby. Bombs away in STL!

Tuesday July 14- THE ALL STAR GAME. The event that counts. The NL v. the AL. President Obama will throw out the first pitch, so look for massive security in STL. But, before the game, check out the wonderful red carpet show, where all the players and coaches will greet the fans before entering the ball park.

I personally will be staying in OFallon IL and have a group going with. Contact me at rodneyknuppel@hotmail.com if you have any other great events that you know of, or extra Tickets to the events.

This will be Pujols’ eighth All Star appearance and his 6th start. At the season’s halfway point, Pujols was hitting .336, with 31 homeruns and 82 runs batted in. In his career, Albert has never hit below .314, and played in atleast 143 games in every season.