Once Upon a Time, in a Deep Purple Blue Funk, There Lived a Young Prince Named Albert. ...
There once was a prince – named Albert Skidoo,
Who took the big money – to the west coast he flew,
Higher than a Cardinal – with new Angel wings,
He soared toward the sunset – and beautiful things
– that, so far – have not come even close to his grasp.
What has happened to Albert Pujols?
No, check that question. There is no past tense to it. What IS happening to Albert Pujols?
The 12-season veteran from the National League took the money over the winter in preference to a most certain future ordination as one of the two greatest Career Cardinals of All Time. He even rolled out the “nothing personal, but baseball is a business” explanation in a no chance attempt to quell the disappointment of adoring St. Cardinal fans in his decision to leave and join the Los Angeles Angels at Anaheim by Way of Pismo Beach (or whatever).
Nothing worked on the understanding for Albert side. Cardinal fans discarded their Pujols #5 jerseys. St. Louis retailers gave away or trashed their unsold stock of Pujols memorabilia. Everything the St. Louis people did, they did in extreme negative reaction to Pujols’ abandonment of them.
Yes, that’s how it felt in St. Louis, and it was expected.
What wasn’t expected was the 2012 MLS season starting gate performance of Albert Pujols in the American League. The man went over there with a career batting average of .327, a slugging percentage of .612, and a total of 445 career home runs.
And what has Prince Albert done in his first 94 plate appearances? Well. he’s walked 6 times and then hammered out 88 times at bat that have counted heavily against his batting average. Everyday, he floats closer and closer to a waltz with Senor Mendoza of the metaphorically famous .200 line land of lost, never were, and no longer are – hitters and sluggers of the baseball.
As an Angel in 2012, through games of Sunday, April 29th, Albert Pujols has 19 hits 88 official times at bat and a batting average of .216. Only 7 of his 19 hits were for extra bases and these were all doubles. That’s right. – Pujols has no triples and NO HOME RUNS. – NADA! His .295 slugging average isn’t even half the size of his .612 lifetime mark and his 7 runs scored and 4 runs batted in are hardly anything either to write home about.
Yeah, I know. Baseball’s a long season and things can change for a talent like Pujols on a dime, but the question remains: What’s wrong with Prince Albert? I have no idea, but I’m dispassionately overwhelmed by a range of possibilities.
Do the American League pitchers have a better book on Albert than their NL brothers – one that’s that much better?
Did Albert develop a mechanical hitch that someone in St. Louis could have helped him correct when that person was available?
Is it mental? Is Pujols hurting his own recovery by putting pressure on himself that takes away his ability to “get well.”
Is Albert suffering from, or covering up, an injury or personal issue that affects his daily performance?
Does Albert regret leaving the Cardinals?
Did Pujols suddenly fall off the age clock cliff and lose his ability to play the game at his old level?
I don’t know. – What do you think? – And please leave a comment as a response to this column.
The Pecan Park Eagle 
April 30, 2012 at 2:10 pm |
Albert Pujols’ batting slump will last all season
All of us Los Angeles Angel fans are waiting for Albert Pujols to come
out of his batting slump. It is not going to happen.
He used to be “Fat Albert.” But now he is Slim Trim Albert, and his
dramatic weight loss has badly affected his hitting. His high fly balls
to the outfield don’t even reach the warning track anymore. He isn’t
even much of a threat to hit home runs in 2012. He is not aggressive
at the plate, and he takes “home run pitches” for called strikes.
Last Friday night, my daughter and I went to the Angel game against
Baltimore. We sat in the second row behind the Orioles’ dugout. When
I saw Pujols up close, I was alarmed by his slim, trim body. To the
casual observer he looks like he is in fantastic physical condition.
But something is wrong.
I think the Angels should send him to an Internal Medicine specialist
for a complete checkup. I also think the Angels’ trainer should take
him into the weight room for a telltale evaluation. If he cannot
bench press the weight that he used to handle, it will show objectively
that his physical strength is waning.
When the TV camera is on him close up, his arms are not massive and
strong like they used to be. His upper body is much less than it used
to be. His neck muscles and facial muscles show a Slim Trim Albert who
bears little resemblance to the Fat Albert who used to hit over 40
home runs every year.
By the end of May, the Angels’ top brass will be asking, “How long can
we keep putting Albert into the lineup batting third when he is just
not producing at the plate?”
I am reminded of Cecil Fielder of the Detroit Tigers. In 1988, he was an
unproductive hitter for Toronto Blue Jays at 230 pounds. They released
him and he played in Japan in 1989. In 1990, he came back to the U.S.
at 6’5″ and well over 270 pounds. His hips and thighs were beyond huge;
they were massive. Results as first baseman for the Tigers:
1990 – 51 home runs, 132 RBI, and lead American League in both.
1991 – 44 home runs, 133 RBI; and lead American League in both.
1992 – 35 home runs, 124 RBI
1993 – 30 home runs, 117 RBI
Pujols’ performance as a defensive first baseman is always excellent —
sometimes spectacular. But the Angels are paying him $24 million
per year to bat .330 and hit 40 home runs and drive in 120 runs. That
is not going to happen in 2012.
I hope I am wrong, wrong, wrong in my above assessment. But I think I
am right. Slim Trim Albert is not going to be a productive hitter.
Best,
AL SCHALLAU
Al’s son sent a follow up to his dad:
Below is my son Rick’s assessment of Albert Pujols’ lack of hitting production so far for the Angels. I see no indications that he is going to get better. The most disturbing part is that American League pitchers are throwing him home run pitches right over the plate. The pitchers and pitching coaches are not afraid of him at all.
Best, AL
—–Forwarded Message—–
From: Rick Schallau
Sent: Apr 28, 2012 9:20 PM
To: Al Schallau
Subject: Re: Albert Pujols’ batting slump will last all season
A few of my thoughts on the matter:
Pujols may or may not have been using human growth hormone, which baseball had never blood tested for until this year. If he had been using H.G.H. he had incentive up until his signing with the Angels to continue using it. Inflated stats equates to an inflated contract. Now that he has a ten year contract that will last through the end of his career, he has no further incentive to continue to use H.G.H. Since baseball contracts are guaranteed, the Angels are “on the hook” for all of that money.
Pujols is from the Dominican Republic, a place that is notorious for fake birth certificates. Although he is listed as being born January 16, 1980, making him 32 years old, who knows for sure that he wasn’t born in 1978 or even 1977? Pujols hit 37 home runs as a 21 year old rookie in 2001. I don’t see many 21 year olds hitting that many home runs these days, although you do see it more often from 23-24 year olds. For comparison sake, American born Prince Fielder hit 28 home runs when he was 22, then hit 50 home runs when he was 23, his second full season in the majors. Was Pujols 23 or 24 as a rookie (which would make him 34 or 35 now)?
Beyond statistics such as batting average, home runs and slugging percentage is the important statistic of walks, as well as intentional walks:
2009 – AB – 568, BB – 115, IBB – 44, 1 BB per 4.9 AB (highest walk total of career)
2010 – AB – 587, BB – 103, IBB – 38, 1 BB per 5.6 AB
2011 – AB – 579, BB – 61, IBB – 15, 1 BB per 9.49 AB (lowest walk total of career)
2012 – AB – 80, BB 6, IBB 2 – 1 BB per 13.3 AB
Early returns are discouraging, let’s hope Pujols can turn things around.
April 30, 2012 at 2:26 pm |
As a lifelong Cardinal fan I am still rooting for Albert but this is really making the Cardinals GM look good.
I have only seen a few of his AB’s this year but I felt last year he had lost a lot of his consistency at the plate. He often lunged at pitches and was much more of a hot and cold hitter than ever before in his career.
I would start with his eyes and see if his vision is as good as they can make it.
April 30, 2012 at 2:48 pm |
There is no evidence that he was using HGH, but man, does the weight loss and loss of power make you wonder.
Very few guys of the 500-homer club variety have started their careers with big numbers like his and been able to keep it all going into their mid-thirties. Aaron did, of course. Frank Robinson came close, but Mathews, Killebrew, Mays, Jackson, for example, started young and all had big drop offs. And look at A-Rod’s dropping numbers, but then that’s another steroid/HGH user.
April 30, 2012 at 3:21 pm |
When people saw the years and dollars of his contract, many predicted it would haunt the Angels the way Carlos Lee’s contract haunts the Astros. Only they didn’t expect the fall-off to beign for another 4-5 years. I joked that one day his contract would be dubbed the “Albertross”. Looks like that is strarting early.
But let’s understand he has had slow starts before only to bounce back and put up great numbers. I’m not worried about him. None of us should, actually. He’s getting his money.