Pujols’ ‘quick look’ instantly turned heads
Posted on Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Postseason statistics compiled by minor-league baseball players aren’t retained as part of their permanent record. If they were, Albert Pujols ’ spectacular rookie season of 2001 for the St. Louis Cardinals might not have been such a surprise to the world in general.
In 2000, in his first pro season, Pujols had mauled pitchers in two Class A leagues for an aggregate. 314, 19 home runs and 96 RBI before being sent up to the Class AAA Memphis Redbirds the final week of the season — what the baseball trade calls “a quick look.”
He got into three regular-season games with Memphis and batted. 214.
However, in the Pacific Coast League playoffs that followed, Pujols “just sort of exploded,” according to Gaylen Pitts, the Redbirds’ manager at the time.
While the Redbirds were beating Salt Lake City in seven games for the PCL championship, Pujols hit. 367 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI. His 13 thinning home run in the seventh game sent Memphis to the Class AAA World Series at Las Vegas against Indianapolis. Overall, he batted. 302 in 11 postseason games.
When all the minor-league awards were announced that fall, Pujols was the regular-season MVP of the Class A Midwest League and also the MVP of the PCL playoffs — a rare and possibly unprecedented combination.
“What amazed me at the time,” Pitts said recently, “was that here was a kid 20 years old coming up from ‘A’ ball, with about 130 [pro ] games under his belt when he joined us at Memphis, and he already looked like a mature hitter.
“ He was a free swinger who didn’t strike out much; he always had a piece of the ball. That’s the surest sign of a real hitter, no matter which league he’s in.” Pujols was invited to the Cardinals’ 2001 training camp. Even though he was about the hottest hitter in Florida that spring, there were no expectations he would make the club. St. Louis had made an executive decision that he would spend at least the first month or two at Memphis. An opening developed when veteran Bobby Bonilla couldn’t come off the disabled list in time to start the season. Pujols filled the vacancy and never looked back. He became the fourth player in history to break into the majors with a. 300 or better average, 30 or more home runs, 100 or more RBI and 100 or more runs. In Pujols’ case, the numbers were. 329, 37, 130 and 112. The first three were Hal Trosky of the Cleveland Indians (1934 ) and Ted Williams (1939 ) and Walt Dropo of the Boston Red Sox (1950 ). Trosky went on to a solid career. Williams, of course, went to the Hall of Fame. Only Dropo lapsed into ordinary status after the hot start.
Pujols certainly hasn’t. Approaching his eighth big-league season, he is closing in on 300 home runs and 1, 500 hits. His career average is slightly above. 330. He has already won a batting title, led the National League in hits twice, hit 46 home runs in one season and 51 doubles in each of two seasons.. Chronic elbow problems last year dropped him to “only” 32 home runs and 103 RBI.
“As far as consistency and durability goes, Albert has been like a righthanded Stan Musial,” longtime Cardinals coach and instructor George Kissell said recently.
Pitts, a Mountain Home native and recent Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee, still manages in the St. Louis farm system.
“I only got to manage Albert 14 games,” he said, “but I saw enough way back there in Memphis that nothing he’s done since then came as a surprise to me.”
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