He is only one of the best Cardinals ever!!! He deserved and earned what he was awarded today! Way to go Albert......
About Me
- Leslie Robus
- I am a mother of two great and very different little girls and a wife of a great man. We try to live our lives to glorify God. Hendersonville, TN (just north of Nashville)is where we call home. John and I both love SEC football...just two different teams. Baseball is my favorite, especially the St. Louis Cardinals. We both cherish those close to us and strive to love God to our best ability daily.
5 comments:
Thank God it wasn't Andrew Jones!!!! With his pathetic 270 batting average and his little league like 210 avg with runners in scoring position. Ty and Ross what are your thoughts?
Well, since my thoughts have been requested, here you go Johnny...
Albert Pujols is awesome. Best pure hitter in bsaeball. The player you would want to start a franchise around. No one can honestly say that he is not a deserving winner of the MVP. However, he would not have gotten my vote, and here's why.
1. If you take Andruw and Pujols away from their respective teams, I believe the Braves would have suffered more than the Cardinals this year. I personally feel like this is the question you have to ask yourself when determining MVP. For a stretch of time when Chipper was hurt, Andruw was our entire offense. Even though Rolen was out, Albert was never the entire offense of the Cardinals. Without Andruw this year, the Braves are a mediocre offensive squad with a down year in pitching, and they probably miss the playoffs. Without Albert, the Cardinals still have the best pitching ERA in the national league (I think) and plenty of guys who can score some runs, and they probably still win the division easily.
2. The defensive aspect. This doesn't require much explanation. Pujols' overall offensive numbers were superior to Andruw's, but I feel that Andruw makes up that difference (and then some) with his glove. Andruw is one of the greatest defensive centerfielders of all time, playing arguably the hardest position to play in the field. He held true to that reputation this year, winning yet another gold glove, as he has done every year since he has been a big leaguer. Pujols has greatly improved his defense since he has been in the league, but he is still an average fielder at first base, a position where teams routinely hide weaker defensive players with big bats. Andruw won games this year with his bat AND his glove. Pujols only won them with his bat.
3. The "other awards" factor. Andruw has already won the following: Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and Hank Aaron award (for the best offensive player in the national league). Albert won none of these awards. If a player is the best defensive player at his position, the best offensive player at his position, and the best offensive player in the whole league, it seems to me that he would also be the most valuable player in the league.
4. The "A-Rod" factor. Pujols' award this year reminds me of Alex Rodriguez' award in the american league 2 years ago with the Rangers. It's more of a lifetime achievement award. 2 years ago, A-Rod had never won an MVP, but he had been the undisputed best player in the league for several years. Therefore, since there was no runaway winner, the voters gave it to A-Rod because they felt like he deserved an MVP. Similarly, Pujols has been the best player in the national league for a few years now, but Barry Bonds keeps winning all the MVP awards because everyone is infatuated with his home runs. This year, there was no runaway winner, and I think the voters felt like Pujols deserved an MVP for his entire body of work in his career.
Ok Robus, there you have it. You may think I sound bitter, but I'm really not. I think Pujols is great, and he is a deserving winner. Honestly, I think he will probably win about half a dozen MVP's before he retires. If Major League Baseball gave a "Most OUTSTANDING Player" award, Albert Pujols would have my vote, hands-down. However, the award is the "Most Valuable Player," and I think that Andruw was more valuable to his team this year than Albert Pujols was.
Geez tyler. I didnt' expect you to write a disertation on the subject. Don't you have some law to be studying. Good arguments though Pujols is nowhere near the defensive player Andruw is and that does have to count. The only place I disagree is that Pujols carried this Cardinal team this year. The offense would have stunk without him and he had no protection in the lineup. I really don't think they could have won the division without him. I also think you are right that Pujols got some votes because he ahd not won it before. Now, are the braves going to be abel to keep Furcal? Please don't let him become a Cub and ruin his career.
If Furcal wants 5 years/$50 million, the Cubs can have him. I wish he would stay, but it won't be the worst thing in the world if he leaves. If he goes to the Cubs, I am sure his career will nosedive, as it will if he goes to the Mets. People who leave the Braves when they are prosperous don't have a very good track record after they leave Atlanta. Maybe the organization breeds success, or maybe we just know when to let people go. Either way, if he goes or stays, I am not going to lose any sleep over it.
First, as far as Leo's decision to make a change, I think there are 2 views. From a personal/family standpoint, he probably made a great decision. He is going to coach with his lifelong best friend, he will be close to his parents and kids, and near his hometown. Pretty much a no-brainer. However, from a professional standpoint, I disagree with this move. I really expected Leo to retire a Brave, but if he DID leave, I didn't expect it to be a lateral move. True, the money was more, but I would think that most people in that line of work are looking to move up, especially a guy like Leo who has absolutely nothing left to prove as a pitching coach. Also, I am surprised because I think he is going into a losing situation. I will be the first to admit that I don't keep up with the Orioles that much, but when I think of Orioles, I don't think of a team that is on the brink of becoming great. Leo can now look forward to working with the likes of Sir Sidney Ponson (even though he's no longer with the team) as his ace. On the other hand, he may love the challenge of bolstering his Hall of Fame credentials. If he can work the same magic in Baltimore than he did in Atlanta, I think he will be the first pitching coach in the Hall. If not, then everyone will say that even as a coach, he was just a product of the Braves' system, and wasn't all we thought he was cracked up to be. It's a risky move. In the end, I just don't think you could ask for a better situation than he had in Atlanta.
As far as his success in Baltimore, I am not going to be mad if he does well there, but I really hope that our staff gets back to it's old form without him, and if he didn't fare so well in Baltimore, it would prove that our tradition of pitching is more related to the Braves' system than just one man. As a fan of the Braves organization, I would like to think that the organization itself breeds success, and that we can be successful continuing the same system that Leo used, which mainly consisted of pitching our starters twice off a mound in between starts.
Finally, I think everyone needs to remember something. He's a pitching coach, just a pitching coach. A darn good pitching coach, but still just a mere pitching coach. There is a reason he was making only $250,000 (or whatever it was) from the Braves. That's all they thought he was worth. And last time I checked, in the 14 years of our coveted division title run, 13 of the 14 teams that won the World Series DIDN'T have Leo Mazzone as their pitching coach. So all in all, I really think it's gonna be ok.
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