Is Albert Pujols the best hitter in baseball? Actively?
409627
Yes!  Hands down.  I'm not just basing this on his last two games either.  He's the next Barry (in a good way).  He's so young, consistently good, and only improving.  Plus, he plays for a great team with a great supporting cast, not to mention that he loves the game.  I don't think anyone can have a better player than him.\n\nNo bias here.  I'm a Dodger fan and cringe everytime he comes to the plate against LA.
179659
Do you mean as a pitcher or as a hitter.\n\nFor hitters, the top 10 are:\n1. Reggie Jackson 2597\n2. Sammy Sosa 2194\n3. Andres Galarraga 2003\n4. Jose Canseco 1942\n5. Willie Stargell 1936 \n6. Mike Sch-midt 1883 (for some reason Yahoo considers his last name a bad word if you don't add the hyphen)\n7. Fred McGriff 1882\n8. Tony Perez 1867\n9. Dave Kingman 1816\n10. Jim Thome 1762\nCurrently, both Sammy Sosa and Jim Thome are still active players.\n\nFor pitchers, the top 10 are:\n1. Nolan Ryan 5714 \n2. Roger Clemens 4502 \n3. Randy Johnson 4372 \n4. Steve Carlton 4136 \n5. Bert Blyleven 3701 \n6. Tom Seaver 3640 \n7. Don Sutton 3574 \n8. Gaylord Perry 3534 \n9. Walter Johnson 3509 \n10. Phil Niekro  3342\nCurrently, both Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson are still active players.
455840
Pujols gets pitches to hit because he has Rolen and Edmonds protecting him in the lineup. Managers know that if they put Pujols on base, one of those two guys will likely punish them.\n\nPujols is the best hitter...but best defensive player? Give me a break. 1B is one of the least important defensive positions. He's great at 1B, but he's not as important to his team's defense as Andruw Jones or Orlando Hudson.
508141
Easy....Pujols.  When you put up numbers that mirror that of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, any other answer besides Albert Pujols is ludicrous.
509123
Not me.  I'm glad he hit it.  Now we can get back to how great Albert Pujols is.
420306
Albert Pujols.\n\nHowever, the best player of ALL TIME on the Cardinals was Rogers Hornsby, who has the highest batting average EVER in a season (.424) in 1924.\n\nAs for pitching, best pitcher today is Chris Carpenter, best pitcher of all time in Cardinals history is Bob Gibson.
663042
Pujols, because he is hitting over .300 and has what, 17 homers
1115300
News: Albert Pujols took batting practice, fielded grounders and ran hard in the outfield Tuesday. The Cardinals' star is getting closer to returning as he recovers from a strained oblique muscle suffered June 3. Pujols might be able to come off the DL in time for the Cardinals' weekend interleague series in Detroit. "He's stepping up the program. Everything so far, he's feeling good," manager Tony La Russa said, adding Pujols was not in any pain. "He'll keep stepping it up until he's game-ready. But there is a conditioning factor now, too. It's not just getting his legs in shape and his arm in shape, there is a lot to get ready."\n\nAnalysis: Keep Pujols reserved until the weekend at least, but he could return to lineups thereafter. That's great news for his owners at this point, but there's still a few rivers for his oblique to cross.\n\nDon't you love it when jack-holes like the 2 idiots above post stupid answers?
623645
Best Current Team - Tigers have been very hot lately\n\nBest Current Player - Pujols of course\n\nMost under-rated team - Tigers at the moment, Reds also\n\nMost over-rated team - Angels\n\nMVP's - Guerrero for AL, Pujols for NL\n\nCy Young's - Oswalt for NL, Santana for AL\n\nMost HR's - Pujols for NL, Rodriguez for AL\n\nBatting Titles - Pujols for NL, Hafner for AL\n\nWorld Series - White Sox v Cardinals, White Sox victory\n\nDivision Wins - AL East Yankees, AL Central White Sox, AL West Athletics, AL Wild Card Blue Jays.  NL East Mets (ending the Braves steak), NL Central Cardinals, NL West Dodgers, NL Wild Card Astros\n\nBest Division Races - AL Central with Tigers, White Sox, Indians and NL West just to see if anyone can break .500 this year...
630023
--- First of all, I'm sick of people accusing ALL players of using steroids if they're doing well in baseball. Some people just have natural talent! To whoever is rolling their eyes at this, has Pujols ever failed a drug test? Giambi? Bonds? A-Rod? Sheffield? Whether you remember or not, people HAVE failed drug tests. As far as the baseball world is concerned, they're clean.\n--- Secondly, the sport needs a player like Pujols. With all the steroid allegation surrounding baseball, a clean home run hitter is just what we need to peek fans' interest in the game again, just as McGwire and Sosa's chase of the home run record after the lockout. Let's face it, fans like offense.\n--- FInally, anyone who calls someone a cheater just because they're good at what they do is jealous of their ability. That's all there is to this steroids issue.
558824
None other then the great Albert Pujols
1171150
Greetings from the Yahoo Brain in New York City!  \nHope you're watching the live Answers webcast at http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/asktheplanet/brain.html !\n\n\nI think A-Rod will break it, as long as he doesn't have to get up in too many pressure situations for the rest of his career.  I love the guy, but I can't get over how ridiculously un-clutch he is.  He's still going to get his numbers, particularly mammoth home run blasts when the Yankees are either up or down big, but don't look for too much from him when the game is on the line.\n\nWhat I also think is that if he keeps up his own torrid pace, Albert Pujols will break Rodriguez's record a few years later.   As long as he stays healthy and keeps hitting them, there's almost no reason to think he won't!\n\nHope this helps!\n--J.
1094646
Over all it will either be Albert Pujols or Alex Rodrguez.\nOver the last two years they are the two best.  Even with Pujols hurt now he should still be there as on of the best.\nAlex has proven to be one of the best already and when all is said and done he will be in the top of most cat. in baseball.
799565
In no particular order!\n\n1.Jose Reyes is the best SS in the game right now\n2 Albert Pujols - the best player in the game right now\n3. Johann Santana - by far the best pitcher in baseball\n4. Ryan Howard - crazy strong and talented hitter\n5. Alex Rodriguez - had incredible numbers in his OFF year\n6. David Ortiz - even though he doesnt play the field he is one of the best today\n7. Carlos Beltran - The best CF in the game in my opinion\n8. Derek Jeter - a proven winner and the likely 2006 AL MVP\n9. Joe Mauer - the best catcher in baseball\n10. Vladimir Guerrero - great hitter, and one helluva arm\n\nhonorable mentions: Chris Carpenter, Roy Halliday Travis Hafner, and Justin Morneau
404496
Because there is no such thing as a player who is so good that he should be walked every time up.\n\nIn 2005, Pujols batted 591 times with an additional 97 walks, for 688 plate appearances (not counting sacrifices, just at bats plus walks here to simplify).\n\nWith 114 singles, 38 doubles, 2 triples and 41 HR, that's 360 total bases, plus another 97 for the walks for a total of 457 bases.\n\nHe made 396 outs, so his bases/outs ratio is 457/396 = 1.15, which is excellent.\n\nBut if you walk him every time, you get 688 bases, with no outs...that's far worse (for the defense).\n\nBasically, you can't take the 396 outs that Pujols made and give those extra 396 outs to his teammates. You'll get killed in the long run.\n\nBill James has shown that not even Babe Ruth was good enough that it would have made sense to walk him every time he came to bat. The bases/outs ratio is the reason. \n\n(steaksammich had the right idea about the OBP).\n\nIf you walked Pujols every time out, one or two of his teammates would end up driving in 150 runs apiece.
768532
By far. I think all of us are "Sal's pal's" He is simply a legend. His mullet is a work of art. His Mustache is nothing short of perfect. Can he hit over .200? NO. Can he throw anyone out at second? NO Do we care? NO He is a god among mortals. He also may become the first guy to win both MVP trophys in the same year. (he played in the NL and AL)
637101
Present:Albert Pujols\nPast: Hank Aaron\n\ni would of said barry bonds, but am not going to because if he did take steriods then he is a dirty ho bag, but if he didnt then i will say him because look at all the records he broke in 2001\n\nBarry Bonds: Broke Mark McGwire's record for most home runs in one season\n\nBroke Babe Ruth's record for highest slugging percentage in a season\n\nBroke Roger Maris' record for most home runs in one season by a left-handed hitter\n\nOldest player to lead the major leagues in home runs\n\nOldest player to hit 50, 60, 70 home runs\n\nBroke the major-league record for walks in one season\n\nThirty-nine home runs before All-Star break\n\nOnly player to have two six-game home run streaks in career (both came this season)\n\nFastest player to 30 HR, 40 HR, 50 HR, 60 HR, 70 HR\n\nbut who knows maybe albert pujols will break all those records. I think he already broke the fastest player to get to 20 homeruns record, so he is doing  pretty amazing this year so far.plus pujols already have some records for himself already in these were set during his rookie year! \n\nWally Berger's NL rookie record for most RBI\n\nJohnny Frederick's NL rookie record for most extra-base hits\n\nRichie Allen's NL rookie record for most total bases