Pastor Rich knows a Monster Card when he sees one. He must have known that Albert Pujols was originally drafted by me and was with my Thunderchickens until I unmercifully traded him just last off season.
I love this card despite the 24s. It’s one of my favorites. In 2004, Pujols was only 24 years but was already showing signs that he was a premiere hitter. The year before, he led the NL in batting average, hits, runs, and doubles. In 2004, he kept it up by increasing his power by hitting 46 homeruns. He hit the same amount of doubles (51) and still hit .331. As a result, he led the NL in runs (133) and total bases (389). He also drove home 117.
One of my favorite stats with Pujols… he almost always had more walks than strikeouts. In 2004, he walked 97 times and struck out 65 times.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 Totals | 154 | 692 | 592 | 133 | 196 | 51 | 2 | 46 | 123 | 5 | 84 | 52 | .331 | .415 | .657 |
Five power numbers (1-1-5-6-6)? Check.
55-7? Check.
Fielding One? Check?
A funny number in a strange spot (21-41)? Check.
No 24s? Ok, he missed one.
But you gotta admit, this is a yummy card.
Fun numbers: 44-6, 55-7, 21-41
From his page on Baseball Reference…
Ok, the juvenile in me always thought this was funny. Now that he’s not on my team anymore, it’s even funnier.
By the way, Albert did hit his 500th career homerun in the Illowa APBA League. I heard it first from the opposing manager, Don Smith via text.
Albert’s new manager Nick Tegeler, and I played our June series recently and I’m a little disappointed that Pujols has been riding the pines. I don’t blame Nick. He’s got slugger Jose Abreu who’s young and nimble. Albert did come in for a game and got a couple hits though so he earned a couple more starts against me.
Thanks for not forgetting about us, Albert.
And thanks, Rich!
PS I just realized I wrote about this card two years ago. Oh well.
