The Perfect Player

Updated: July 12, 2009, 11:35 PM ET

Hitting, baserunning, defense -- there isn't much Albert Pujols can't do on the field

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By Tim Kurkjian
ESPN The Magazine

PUJOLS THE HITTER

“
There are a lot of great

hitters out there, but there's

only one Albert.”
-- Tony Gwynn

Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, a future Hall of Famer, calls Albert Pujols "the greatest right-handed hitter I've ever seen.'' Gary Sheffield, a member of the 500 home run club, calls Pujols "the best hitter I've ever seen because he has done it since day one.''

Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, one the greatest hitters ever, agreed with Sheffield, then went a step further about the terms in which we might speak about Pujols in 20 years.

"I used to say that Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter I've ever seen, but Albert has taken it to a different level,'' Gwynn said. "From the first year he got to the major leagues to right now, it's just unbelievable the numbers he has put up. He never has a valley. He makes outs like everyone else, but he has had no struggles in 8½ years.

HE'S NO. 1

Pujols leads all MLB hitters in the following offensive categories in 2009:

STAT	#'S
HR	32
RBI	87
OBP	.456
SLG	.723
OPS	1.179
R	73
BB	71
IBB	32
XBH	55
TB	222
AB/HR	9.6
RC	93.9
RC27	11.47
ISOP	.391
SECA	.645

"Consistency is the thing you look for in a hitter, and no one in today's game has been more consistent than Albert. Look at all the things he can do: hit, hit for power, drive in a run, hit down in the count, late in the game, uses the whole park. You take all of the things in the pie, and he has them all. There are a lot of great hitters out there, but there's only one Albert.''

Five years ago, Gwynn was asked to name the hitter that most reminded him of himself. It was expected that he might name a contact hitter, a singles hitter, such as Ichiro, who hits the ball to all fields with amazing bat control, which is what made Gwynn the best hitter -- for average -- since Ted Williams. Gwynn didn't say Ichiro. He said it was Albert Pujols.

"I still feel that way,'' Gwynn said. "He has the ability, more than anyone else in the game, to hit the ball where it's pitched, and he hits it there with great power. He never takes that pitch away from him and tries to hook it down the left-field line. Instead, he crushes it to right-center field. That's because he has the ability to stay back.

"He never looks fast up there. He is always in control. He is so prepared. He never goes to the plate with a predetermined notion about what's going to happen. It doesn't matter what the pitcher does, he's going to attack it, and attack it with power. When a hitter comes to the plate, a pitcher stands on that rubber, looks at the plate and asks himself, 'Are you a threat?' If you are, then I'm not coming at you. I can't believe he gets anything good to hit.''

Gwynn never struck out more than 40 times in any season, and averaged a strikeout every 21.4 at-bats. Last season, 90 players struck out 100 times, while Pujols struck out 54 times. After his rookie season, in which he struck out 93 times, Pujols has never struck out as many as 70 times in a season. In 2006, he hit 49 home runs and struck out 50 times. Through Friday, he had 32 home runs and 35 strikeouts, a ridiculous ratio in today's game.

"For him to only strike out 50 or 60 times every season, if that, is amazing,'' Gwynn said. "The trick is, he never seems to get fooled up there because he is so smart, he's so disciplined and he's so strong in his lower half. It seems like the only outs he makes are good outs, he squares the ball almost every time. What he is able to do better than anyone is make it look like he's in control all the time, not the guy on the mound. He dictates the action, not the guy with the ball. When a pitcher knows he's not in charge, he is in trouble.''

Gwynn, a career .338 hitter, and Ted Williams are the only players with career averages that high to play after 1938. They shared a special bond, one that revolved around hitting. When asked where Pujols might end up if he continues on this pace, Gwynn didn't hesitate.

"I had a great relationship with Ted, I spent a lot of time with him, you know that,'' Gwynn said. "He used to say that he wanted to walk down the street and have people say, 'There goes the greatest hitter ever.' That's where Albert Pujols is headed. He's only done it for nine years, but I really believe that's where he's headed.''

WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Watching Albert Pujols is history in the making. Check out where he already ranks all time in several key categories for players age 29 and under. The minimum requirement for each is 3,000 at-bats.

RNK	Best OPS+	Most HR	Best SLG	Most RC	Best ISO
1.	Ruth 219	Rodriguez 429	Ruth .712	Foxx 1,511	Ruth .361
2.	Williams 196	Griffey 398	Williams .640	Mantle 1,451	Greenberg .299
3.	Hornsby 183	Foxx 379	Gehrig .640	Ott 1,423	PUJOLS .297
4.	Thomas 182	Mantle 374	PUJOLS .631	Rodiguez 1,412	Gehrig .297
5.	Gehrig 182	Mathews 370	Foxx .628	Hornsby 1,314	Foxx .294
6.	Cobb 182	PUJOLS 350	Greenberg .625	PUJOLS 1,294	Kiner .290
7.	Mantle 175	A. Jones 342	Klein .618	Cobb 1,286	Williams .286
8.	PUJOLS 172	Aaron 342	Helton .616	Griffey 1,279	Belle .285
9.	Musial 171	Ott 342	DiMaggio .607	Gehrig 1,270	Ramirez .282
10.	Mize 169	Gonzalez 340	Thomas .600	Aaron 1,249	Helton .279

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PERSPECTIVES ON PUJOLS

Pujols Is Albert Pujols the perfect player? Tim Kurkjian and ESPN.com look at different aspects of the Cardinals' slugger's game. Click on one of the areas below, or go back to the beginning.