Albert Pujols: From the Cardinals to the Angels
After a seemingly endless round of rumours and speculations that descended upon the excellence-personified slugger’s trade, Albert Pujols is now the most prominent feature of the Los Angeles Angels. Having signed a contract of $254 million for ten years,
the former Redbird Pujols will now attract attention in his newly joined club.
Albert Pujols had a long affiliation with the St. Louis Cardinals, being part of it in the most defining of moments. While the Cardinals have so far won 11 World Series titles in the last 10 years that Albert Pujols was part of the club, the Cardinals won
twice when he was part of the team. He was one of the strongest components of the team that wielded enormous influence on the players.
While it is always worthwhile to dig deep into the career of this fascinating player, his 2011’s performance - if history is anything to go by, shows how dominant a role he had to help the team get to the victory stand. In the postseason alone, he maintained
an average of .353 with the 15 runs that he scored for the team.
In his playoffs appearances, the player remained 68 at-bats, having 5 home runs to his credit with 16 RBIs and 12 BBs. He maintained a .463 OBP. Not to mention the fact that in the postseason games, he single-handedly put the team on the winning track just
when it had appeared to be an altogether different result for the club.
His regular season in 2011 remained impressive with 579 at-bats in 147 games with 99 RBIs, 37 of which were home runs with 105 runs that he scored with 173 hits. He upheld an average of .299 throughout the season.
His career record makes another admirably impressive read with the 1705 games that the player has appeared in with 6312 at-bats. The player maintains a career average of .328 with .420 OBP as he has 445 home runs and he is currently standing at the 37th
spot in the list of 300 players with most homers in the history of baseball, topped by Barry Bonds with 762.
With his trade to the Los Angeles Angels, he will empower a team that has recently failed to make to the playoffs. He will have to play an influential role in determining the course for the team. He said, “I'm a teammate guy, so whatever I can do to help
my team to win like I have the past two years, that's what I want to do. If it takes for me to play first base, third base, right field, I just want to win the game. I’m a really smart player. If you tell me something, I get it quickly. If there is something
wrong with my hitting, tell me what’s wrong and I’ll pick it up right away. That’s the best thing I have going for me, my ability to listen to a coach and fix what I’m doing wrong.”
A player of his stature, undeniably deserves kudos as he has remained a fascination for his contemporaries, and will remain an ideal figure for the future players as he majestically swings his bat to achieve new heights in the game.
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