EYE ON…
Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
Background: With apologies to Manny Ramirez, Pujols is the game’s top hitter. He’s a modern-day Joe DiMaggio — he’ll take you deep but rarely strike out.
What’s up: Pujols is on his way to consecutive National League MVP honors and his third overall. You get the feeling, like Barry Bonds before him, that Pujols is going to turn this award into his own personal paperweight if his elbow doesn’t blow out. How ridiculous is Phat Albert? In his first 58 at-bats this season, he had six home runs and four K’s.
Renck’s take: Former big-leaguer Jeff Cirillo was talking about confidence and immediately brought up Pujols: “He intimidates pitchers with his sheer presence in the box.” Pujols believes he can take any pitcher deep and has said he fears no one. Pujols’ growth as a player is what I have noticed in recent seasons. With Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds gone, Pujols is not just the face of the franchise. He’s the grit. He will steal a base if necessary, move a runner over and, even right-handed, there’s no better defensive first baseman in the game. As players continually remind me, when a team’s best player is its hardest worker, that team usually plays in October.
THREE UP
1. Blue Jays: Back-to-future strategy with manager Cito Gaston works beautifully.
2. Cardinals: No proven closer? No problem with Pujols and Ludwick mashing.
3. Reds: One of two teams not to use the DL yet this season.
THREE DOWN
1. Athletics: Mastered the art of losing close, late and on the road.
2. Mets: It’s time for David Wright to make this his team, his MVP year.
3. Rays: Scored three runs or less nine times in first 16 games.
AT ISSUE
D’oh! Yankees receive Homer treatment in new ballpark
What: For a billion dollars, give or take change in the couch springs, the Yankees thought they were building a new stadium. Turns out it’s the baseball equivalent of LaGuardia, baseballs flying out at a record pace.
When: During the first six home games at the new stadium, there were 26 home runs hit, breaking the previous record by Kansas City’s old Municipal Stadium.
Background: There’s no issue too small to create panic in the Bronx. As baseballs regularly became souvenirs, the Yankees didn’t hesitate. They consulted engineers. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me if they purchased the School of Mines, and relocated it for year-round analysis of the new digs. General manager Brian Cashman acknowledged they would continue to monitor the situation. The reason the Yankees are freaking out is that they spent the entire offseason building their team around pitching. CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett’s impact will be muted if the stadium turns into an evil step-twin of old Coors Field.
Renck’s take: So is it that bad? Or is the pitching just awful (see Chien-Ming Wang)? I asked Oakland’s Matt Holliday, who just finished a series there. “It’s a better (place to hit) than the old one, but it’s not a joke. It’s probably getting overblown a bit.” In New York? Really. It’s amusing because it’s the Yankees. When the Rockies were playing pinball games at Coors Field from 1995-2001, the league shrugged its shoulders. It took a few years for the criticism to ramp up. Not a few days. Three words, Yankees fans: Small sample size.
If the trend continues through September, it’s time to get out the hard hats and build some scrapers to change the flight patterns.
