Pujols Scores from Second, Duncan Can't Find The Ball, and Rick No-Thankiel

I usually don't dedicate entire blog posts to just one game (even if that game involved my beloved St. Louis Cardinals) because there are many other blogs that follow teams exclusively that do a better job than I could (for the Cardinals there's Viva El Birdos), but last night's Cardinals/Rockies match-up had enough compelling elements plus some examples of things I've had on my mind lately. First the obvious; teams that don't have Albert Pujols on their roster are at a disadvantage. That is a slight over simplification but I honestly have never have seen a guy who can beat you in so many ways. Last night he displayed three; hitting (1 for 4 with a RBI and a double), fielding (spectacular dig for the last out of the game), base running (unexplainable mad dash from second in the 9th inning to score ON A GROUNDER TO SECOND). Pujols isn't the fastest cat in the cradle but he moves exceptionally well, he's quick, he makes split second decisions, he slides well, and he has a sixth sense for where the ball is at all times. Last night's game winning run was atypical, but not for Pujols. During the 2006 regular season, when it felt like the only Cardinal winning any games was Number Five, Pujols would nearly routinely win games with his legs. These things don't come up in his stats but his base running aggression and superior intellect put him in positions to score on a regular basis. It's one thing to be greatly talented (which Albert clearly is) but the drive to improve himself and use his skills to make up for places where he isn't so talented astound me. That is a genius ball player right there and it's one of the many reasons that make him the best player in the game. No other player in baseball today can compete with Pujols' Swiss Army Knife of weapons; he doesn't strike out, he makes adjustments in-game and even in-at-bat, he plays flawless defense, he's alert, and he's smarter than you.




Yesterday, I wrote in my recap of the Cubs/Cardinals Friday game that Chicago's Alfonso Soriano made two of the most bewildering fielding gaffs in consecutive plays that I've ever seen. Soriano basically watched two fly balls drop within his reach. The announcers (on WGN, which tells you something) blamed these bizarre occurrences on the fact the Soriano was recently put back into the Cubs line-up and he wasn't used to fly balls in play at night. Bull roar. I'm not one of those guys who says "If I just shave a few pounds I could start for the Red Sox," because that isn't true. For anybody. Except maybe Rich Garces. I can't hit major league pitching, I can't field major league grounders in the infield, but I can catch a pop fly. Not all of them, not even to a percentage that meets Major League standards, but I can catch them. I don't know what was wrong with Soriano, but it wasn't because he "forgot" how to field pop ups. In Chris Duncan's case, I'm not sure he ever learned. Duncan made two errors on two consecutive plays in left field last night. To be fair, these weren't pop ups, they were liners. The first took an admittedly bad hop and the second, well, he must have been thinking about the first during the second because it just straight went through his legs. Five hole. Every time I start to tell myself that Duncan has improved out there he does something to remind me that in the field he looks like a okapi in a Faberge Egg store.




Back to the Pujols play, I must announce who hit that soft grounder to second that eventually plated Pujols, albeit unexpectedly. Rick Ankiel. I don't like Rick Ankiel. There's no real reason. He seems like a stand up guy and I want him to hit 35 home runs this year but I don't like him. I know he's a "good story;" ex-pitcher makes it back to the bigs as a Center Fielder, I know he fits Cardinal fan's profile as a hero (see: white), but I don't like the guy. Pujols scored nearly in spite of Ankiel's "hit" and run in the 9th. He's hitting .105 after the 7th inning this year. He wears those stupid sunglasses. If you're looking for a rational reason on why I don't like the guy (and I should qualify, I have nothing against Ankiel personally, when I say "I don't like the guy" I should say, "I don't like the guy's ability as a ball player.") I can't give you any, except that he takes RBI opportunities away from Pujols. When batting 2nd, Ankiel does one of three things; strike out, hit a double, blast a dinger. None of those things are ideal for padding Bert's stats. And that's what I'm about. That's ridiculous, I realize. But I'm a fan, and I'm allowed an irrational dislike. I was at a Cardinal game a few weeks ago and the yahoos behind me had picked Cesar Izturis as their reasonless goat of the year, and believe me my reasons against Ankiel are better than theirs were for Izturis. Besides, LaRussa has been batting Ankiel 4th lately and our relationship has cooled considerably since. But I don't like him. No sir.