why the hell dont they walk pujols every at bat?
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.
507713
Superstitious. A lot of ball players are. I remember there was one pitcher who wouldn't step on the white chalk line when he returned to the dug out. Others take two practice swings before going to the plate. It's all mental, but if it helps to calm them down, why not?
445178
They don't any more than any other player, but if they did it would be because they thought they could hit better.\n\nHitting lefty if you throw righty is a bit better if you are a weak hitter because your dominant eye is on the side that you use to throw, and for a weak hitter it is best for the dominant eye to be nearest the incoming ball. Also, the arm towards the pitcher is the most important arm because it does most of the work in guiding the batt onto the ball. If you don't make contact, it doesn't matter how hard you swing. For most pitchers, just making contact is a great success, so they work on that first.\n\nAll the BULL about protecting the pitching arm is just guessing, and guessing wrong. Pitchers "bail out" at anything remotely near them, and the umpires are particularly sensitive about allowing the pitcher on the mound throw near the pitcher in the batters box.\n\nI should know. I was a pitcher who could hardly hit anything righty, but I had some success hitting lefty with better batt control. It never went very far when I hit it, but at least I made contact occassionally.
397893
pitchers usally focus on more talents then on what they are not so good at. pitchers spend most of their times working on controling the ball and their strength when they throw teh ball. tehy dont have the time to work on hitting. also, they rarely have to bat. also, players that are in teh AL are not a good hitter than players from NL because of the DH rule. But when they have to bat, they wont really do anything. They'll probably strike out or ground out. there are some exceptions, but there are rarely any pitchers that can hit
288393
He was walked because, juiced or not, he could hit.  Managers said in a situation where you are up by one run with bases loaded in a late inning and Bonds at the plate, they would actually intentionally walk him and tie the game, and then go after the next guy rather than risk throwing to him.\n\nI don't think that they walked Bonds to keep him from the record.  They all knew he was juiced and knew that eventually it would catch up with him and tarnish his reputation.  But they have ERAs and their own stats to worry about.  And when Bonds' records are eventually all tarnished, they won't go back and say, "Okay Pitcher, we are shaving 2 pts off your ERA due to Bond's homeruns off you.\n\nFinally, Performance enhancing drugs most definitely increase hand-eye coordination as well as swing speed.  This has been documented and is one major perk of them.  Bonds *had* a natural talent that was decreasing and so he used steroids to maintain it.
449869
OF COURSE!!  I love the St. Louis Cardinals and Albert Pujols is the best player who hasn't been suspected of steroid use!!  HE's even one the best players compared to those who did use steroids!!
822607
Mark McGwire through his first 4 seasons not including his 18 games in 86 where he did not receive enough at bats to not qualify in 87 for Rookie of the Year.  Pujols did it also but not only his first 4 he has done it all 6 years he has played.
625228
No hits and no walks (intentional or not)Simply, nobody gets on base.\nNo hits only is "a no hitter" (Walks are allowed)
232670
Absolutely, he is the best all around player in the major leagues.  He can absolutely do better.  Injuries are a factor, but let's not forget that Scott Rolen was hurt for much of last year.  Having Rolen back in the lineup will only help Pujols.
450930
they either say strriiiiiiiiiike or yell something like haaaaaaa. they dont say "ball" for a strike, but sometimes they say it on a ball (usually in a normal voice) or they dont say anything at all.
59238
Pujols is better because he continues his dominance at the plate in the postseason, unlike A-Rod who seems to choke every time he gets there. Just look at last year's playoffs. The reason why the Yanks didn't advance was because A-Rod was not putting up constant numbers.
331207
They don't always start slow, but have only for the past two seasons.\nI think it's just team chemistry, and some lineup/bullpen issues that need a little time to get worked out.
359575
No.  The difference between players like Pujols and Bonds is age and talent.  Think of Pujols as the LeBron of baseball.  Pujols is so young and takes care of his body well.  Everyone knew from the beginning he would be a great player.  On the other hand, when you're over 40 years old and look like a truck as Bonds does, you know he has to be taking supplements to maintain his strength and figure.  Pujols doesn't need to take roids.  He might need to in about 15 years but he's smarter than that.  Plus, he's a great human being.  He's the kind of player that baseball needs more of.
508375
They haven't done enough.  Everyone thought their pickups would be good but they haven't done anything pitching-wise.  Pitching wins championships ... I mean the Marlins did it a few years back and so did Arizona.  Both were teams that were written off as going to lose to the high-powered yanks offense.\n\nBy the way, they can't trade for D-train because Marlins would only take Wright for him.  That's too much to ask for.
705946
because the people who say the cubs offense is ok know what they are saying. come on your talking about the cubs here. half the team wil b e on the dl by june 15th so who gives a rats a s s who is in there line up. they will be playing minor leaguers half why through the season.
1105046
I am...have been all my life.  They are playing really bad right now without Pujols.  It's kind of scary actually.  You don't know what you got until it's gone.  I don't know what happened.  They got people that can hit and were hitting with Pujols in the lineup, but now that he is out they can't hit anything...and the pitching isn't going to well either.  I still think they can reach the pennant but at this point, I don't think they can without a healthy AP.
664826
Albert Pujols. I live by St. Louis but I'm not just saying him cause i live here. He's mlb leader in homers(16) Sure there's people like Chris Shelton with a lot of homers but not good average. Pujols has good average and homers(16)