In looking at potential Baseball Hall of Fame candidates, I look for cumulative WAR totals around 69 or higher. I remember Mike Trout hitting 69 a few years ago and going against some HOFers down the line, so I point to that total as a 'you're probably in' total.
Between 2003 and 2010, Albert Pujols has a 69.3 WAR. Albert's peak numbers alone are as much as most players can muster over the course of an entire career. And then you add everything else and he has 99 altogether. That type of career, one with some insane numbers during the 2000s and some huge moments even up to today, doesn't come around very often. I was worried they wouldn't make much of a celebration of Pujols' retirement across the league, but now people are definitely handing him gifts, and honestly? He deserves them. For someone to have played as hard as he has for 21 years and do what he's done so well, he deserves it all. And I think people should treat him like somebody like Willie Mays or Cal Ripken, like 'we got to see him play in our lifetime'.
What people will bring up when they try to contest not Albert's induction, but a unanimous induction, into the HOF will be the last 10 years of his career, the Angels years on. They will say Pujols was great, but during the last half of his career, he was just good. Since joining the Angels in 2012, Pujols has posted 241 home runs, 845 RBIs and 1323 hits. That's...not terrible. Let's compare that to another decade-long phenom with a similar second-half drop-off, Ken Griffey Jr. From his Reds deal onward, Griffey hit 232 home runs, 684 RBIs and 1039 hits. Maybe the injuries had something to do with it, but because Pujols has avoided injury time his entire career, and because he's still been a major producer even as his average came down, he may have accomplished more than even Griffey.
Admittedly, there's not a ton for Pujols to do on this current Cardinals team. The lineup's pretty packed, there's youth coming up every so often, and the team has a decent shot at a wild card spot. Pujols was signed to sort of retire as a Cardinal, let the fans see him perform one last time, all of that. He's not doing too badly, hitting .241 with 7 homers and 24 RBIs, which isn't too bad. Everything he's doing now is just icing on the cake, and all he's really doing is inching further up the home run leaderboard. He's in sole possession of fifth place all-time, and if he somehow hits 11 more homers he puts himself in fourth ahead of Alex Rodriguez. It could happen. Who knows?
It's just been a joy to watch Albert Pujols play all these years. However he wraps it up, I'm sure it'll be entertaining and worth it.
Coming Tomorrow- Another young starter for a team that's still building right before our eyes.
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