Sometimes you read a piece and it says everything you feel.
Bob Nightengale does just that with an article from the USA Today on Albert Pujols and his pending milestone 500th homerun.
The reason the Angels were able to justify (at least to themselves) that Albert was worth the 240 million dollar contract they offered was that they were going to get one of the all-time greats, yes. But with that ‘all-time great’ status came the accoutrements.
When Albert would pass another great – HEADLINES. When Albert would hit a significant baseball number – HEADLINES. You could almost see them counting the amount of things he was on pace to break or pass in the history of the game and salivate.
But now, as the 500 HR plateau could be reached as soon as a few games from now, the attention is barely a murmur. If you count this post and Bob’s column above that’s two places I found talking about it.
Maybe a few more if you dive deep into the Google.
Almost 18,000 players have played Major League Baseball. 25 of them have hit 500 home runs. Yes, even with the steroids, this is a pretty effing special.
Leave it to Fred McGriff for some perspective…
The Crime Dog (and Tom Emanski pitchman) reminds people who has the BFIB and why it hasn’t been on the national radar:
“I think we all thought Albert had a chance to hit 700 homers after seeing what he did in St. Louis,” says McGriff, “but it’s been tough for him out in L.A. Maybe that’s why he’s not getting the attention I’m sure if he was still in St. Louis, they’d be blowing it up pretty good out there.”
Yup.
That’s another sad truth in the contract that kept Albert, ironically, from getting the due he deserved.
Photo: Travel Japan Blog
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