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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > November > 24
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Just call him Albert the Great
FORMER CINCINNATI Reds manager Jerry Narron once referred to Albert Pujols simply as Albert the Great - no last name. And everybody in the room knew exactly to whom he referred.
I laughed loudly at the reference and Narron enjoyed that I appreciated his sense of humor. Never again did he refer to him as Albert Pujols. It always was Albert the Great.
And no nickname ever fit more snugly.
Albert Pujols truly is Albert the Great.
When MVP ballots arrive, voters are asked to list their Top Ten candidates, ranking them One through Ten. On this year’s ballot I was tempted to scribble on my ballot, “Albert Pujols and any other nine guys you can think of.”
Apparently, I wasn’t alone in this thinking. Pujols was listed No. 1 on all 32 ballots (two votes from each National League city) to win the NL MVP for 2009.
IN MY 37 YEARS of covering baseball, I never saw a hitter more feared than Albert the Great. And rightfully so. He can beat you with a home run or he can beat you with a double or he can beat you with single or he can beat you with a walk.
He has beaten the Reds so many times, including a ninth-inning grand slam off David Weathers, if I’m managing the Reds I don’t EVER let him beat me. No way. No how. If the Reds had a three-run lead in the ninth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals had the bases loaded with Albert the Great due up, I walk him and take my chances with the next guy.
He is that potent.
And there is another reason I love this guy.
The Cardinals were playing the Reds two years ago, when Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto was a rookie. Before one game, I was standing by the batting cage when Pujols walked by. Votto spotted him and stopped him.
He asked Pujols a question about playing first base and for the next 20 minutes Pujols was demonstrating not only the footwork at first base but some batting stances. I mean, there was a guy from an opposing team, a team that plays in the same division as the Reds, and he was imparting knowledge (very, very good knowledge) to the other team’s first baseman.
Judging by the improvement Votto has made defensively and at the plate, I’d say what Pujols told him must have been applied.
What is outstandingly amazing to me is that this is Pujols’ third MVP, his second in a row. And he isn’t even 30. There are many more in his future.
To me, the difference between the Cardinals and the Reds is one thing - Albert the Great. If the Reds had a player of his caliber, things might be different on the riverfront. Then you couldn’t say that the Reds put the ‘less’ in hopeless.
And to think, the Cardinals are ‘only’ paying him $16 million a year - about half of what A-Rod makes. Given a choice, I’d take Pujols over A-Rod every time. I’d take Pujols over anybody.
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