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Pujols Triple Crown Redux

I raised this issue several weeks ago, and things have gradually become more interesting.  Can Albert somehow find a way to grind out enough RBIs, HRs, and a high enough BA to win the ever-elusive triple crown?  We are definitely in the home stretch of the season, and I'm come to the conclusion it remains difficult but possible.  Consider Albert vs. the closest competition (as of 22 September):

RBI:
Pujols - 128
Fielder - 128
Howard - 123

A dead heat at the moment.  Albert has 11 games left, Prince 12.  Their competition strength is about equal too (though the Brewers do have to play the Phillies, and the Cardinals get the Reds).  And they do get to play each other.  I've got to think that the pitching staff and TLR would try to lock Fielder down if Albert is within sniffing distance of the Triple Crown.  SMALL EDGE TO PUJOLS.

HR:
Pujols - 47
Reynolds - 43
Howard - 41

Albert has the biggest edge here.  Reynolds could put on a surge, but I think with the number of games left, four home runs is a big gap to overcome.  Howard has the ability to stack home runs too (that's pretty much all he hits) but again, time is too short.  LARGE EDGE TO PUJOLS.

BA:
Ramirez - .352
Pujols - .329
Sandoval - .323

Ah yes, easily the hardest of the three categories for Albert to beat.  Ramirez has been incredibly dominant all season, and that .352 average looks mighty shiny.  BUT, I am highly encouraged by developments in the past ten days.  If you look at Ramirez's stats, he has slid eight percentage points in that period, with only one multi-hit game to speak of.  Florida has 12 games left.  If he maintains that rate of slide, he could finish in the neighborhood of .344.  The question is, can Albert surge his way to that mark?  He has finished with seasonal averages above this mark twice already (.357 in 2008, .359 in 2003).  The trick is, it would take a pretty good clip to get there, my junior high math suggests that if he averages 4 plate appearances the rest of the way, then he needs 24 hits or a .545 average to overcome the deficit.  SMALL EDGE TO RAMIREZ

Bottom Line - can he do it?  My heart says yes, my head says no.  It would be outstanding to see a triple-crown winner, and Albert may someday still do it (I think his window could close though, within the next 3-5 years).  But it just won't be this year.  Nuts. 

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BIG Edge to Ramirez.....

…sorry, as moooch as I ‘d love to see El Hombre do it, he doesn’t have moore than about a 10% chance to get the Triple Crown, and even that is being generous. He WILL, cowever, earn a moooch-deserved MVP!

:=8)

Big McLargehuge!
:=8O

by The MooCow on Sep 22, 2009 9:55 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Gotta agree with the Moocow

A big edge to Hanley in the BA department, but the either 2 I will give to Pujols. The problem with the BA is not that Albert has to hit insanely well, it’s that Hanley has to hit terribly. That team is getting hot at their chance at the wild card, and i don’t think that Hanley will want to disappoint the team.

"Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does all the work"
-Mark Twain

by Taskmaster on Sep 22, 2009 10:57 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

We need Uggla to start being really really nice to Hanley.

“Don’t worry Hanley, I was totally wrong. You’ve been so valuable to this team that you could go 0-fer the rest of the season and still be totally awesome. Still BFF dude?”

Albert Pujols does not have "down" years. He has "~6 WAR" years.

by mattybobo on Sep 22, 2009 12:08 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

unfortunetly, i have to give a big edge to hanley too

saying both ramirez will continue to slide all the way back into the high .330ish range AND pujols will go on one of his weekish long pujolsian tears is a pretty unlikely scenario. one of those could definitely happen, but the chances that both would happen and end in albert getting the batting title are very unlikely.

nfltouchdown.com

find me under the fan voices section for the st. louis rams

by stlcardinalsfang on Sep 22, 2009 1:31 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

He has no chance of catching Hanley

And he’ll probably get some rest of the Dodgers are 3 games ahead of us in the last week of the season for best record, so the RBI’s might be a toss up as well.

"I just wish that the late Harry Caray were still around so I could hear him mispronounce 'Kosuke Fukudome' every fukun' night" -- Dennis Miller

by fourstick on Sep 22, 2009 1:58 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

never say die

for albert to catch hanley, larussa wil be needed. bat albert lead off. get him as many at bats as possible.put the cruddiest batter int he #2 hole, give the other team every incentive to pitch to albert. then tony will put comments in the press urging other mgrs to pitch to albert like we did to bonds. as of right now, the difference is 23 points.

albert has gotta hit like butkus and he can do it, but larussa has to “tickle the ivories” as well.

when does RB Fallstrom get inducted to the hall of fame?

by hongniao on Sep 22, 2009 9:58 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

umm why would putting ankiel in the two spot help managers pitch to him

i would just IBB’m you basically would have to go

albert
holliday
ludwick
derosa
colby
yadi
pitcher
skip
boog

Chuck Norris doesn't need a bat.

he just roundhouse kicks the ball out of the park.

by bearcatcardfan on Sep 23, 2009 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

you would IBB the lead-of batter of a game? with none on/out? interesting.

the premise here is how to abet albert eking out as many traditional stats as possible to augment his numbers.

he hits north of .400 w/ none on/out. albert in leadoff will guaranatee him at least one “honest” AB per game. the ensuing times thru the lineup, the high OBP are hitting 7-8-9 making sure that there are as many “ducks on the pond” as possible.

and tony is tony. if albert gets close enough, the mgr could make some comments in the press urging other teams to pitch to albert like the cards did to bonds. mgrs. seem to care about “face” alot.

when does RB Fallstrom get inducted to the hall of fame?

by hongniao on Sep 23, 2009 8:55 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Update

Hitless game for Hanley. He’s down to .350. Separation beween the two players is now twenty points of average. A lot of ground, but still time.

Of course, Fielder continues to make RBIs…

by JWO on Sep 24, 2009 10:27 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

sept 1 update

the hanley gap is down to 11 points.
trails by 4 rbis
1st in homers.
going into the last week and he still has a chance.

when does RB Fallstrom get inducted to the hall of fame?

by hongniao on Oct 1, 2009 6:47 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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