Monday, April 17, 2006

Albert freakin' Pujols

By Tiger Fan

Normally, I try to stick to Mizzou sports. But sometimes, I witness something so epic that I feel the need to share. Plus, let’s be honest… there’s nothing all that exciting going on with Mizzou sports right now. I’ll say this: The much-hyped baseball team has completely fallen apart, blowing two four-run leads this weekend. There, now you’re up to date.

Moving on… I attended the Reds-Cardinals game yesterday at the new Busch Stadium to cheer on my hometown Cincinnati Reds. I left with one thought firmly imprinted in my mind: Albert Pujols is not human. With all due respect to guys like Barry Bonds and David Ortiz, Pujols is the most dominant hitter in the game. He long ago passed the “don’t go to the concession stand if there’s any chance he will come to the plate during the next inning” stage. I made Tiger Fannette wait a whole inning to get some nachos just to make sure we saw his next at-bat (which wound up being is second homerun). It’s reached the point where everyone in the stadium is surprised if he doesn’t hit a homer.

When the eighth inning ended with the Reds up 7-6 and I saw that Pujols was due up second in the ninth, I was just hoping that the Reds could get the first batter out so Pujols could only tie the game. When Jason Marquis singled up the middle to start the ninth, I called for the walk… I yelled for the walk… I begged for the walk. As Pujols stepped into the box, everyone in the stadium came to their feet in anticipation. Once David Weathers threw the first pitch and it was clear that they weren’t going to walk him, I started congratulating the Cardinals fans around me. Pujols then deposited a 1-2 fastball into the upper deck in left. Game over. The standing ovation lasted at least three or four minutes before Pujols took his second curtain call of the game. Well deserved.

The scary thing about Pujols is that he is still getting better. He’s only in his 20s and he is turning into a talented fielder as well. He robbed the Reds of several hits down the first base line throughout the game. Add in his three homeruns and five RBI and he was obviously the game’s MVP. And anyone who doesn’t think he is the MVP of the league hasn’t been paying attention.

A quick note on the Reds…

Why don’t they have a closer? You can’t send out Weathers or Kent Mercker all year to protect leads in the ninth inning when they have to go up against guys like Pujols and Derek Lee. It won’t work. We may set a record for ninth inning losses this season. Can anyone name for me the last good team without a bona fide closer? Remember what our bullpen was like when the Reds were good in the early ‘90s? Remember the Nasty Boys? Do the names Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton and Randy Myers mean anything to you? You have to have a closer! Excuse me, I have to go find something sharper than my computer mouse…

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