Joe Posnanski on Albert Pujols

So did Nuke LaLoosh.

 

Well, then, just imagine what he would have done with a month of AAA in between!

 

True, very true.

 

or 4 years of college.

 

To answer questions about Pujols' sudden rise, I saw him and about 5-6 other current Major Leaguers when they were in high school. Pujols was in a different stratosphere. It wasn't even close. All of the current MLBers I saw back then were the best player on the field, but I really wondered back then if Pujols was the best high school player on the planet.

I asked coaches and associate scouts where they projected him going in the draft at the time, and I heard anywhere from 2nd to 4th round because of defensive uncertainties and other minor hitches that scouts dig up. So the fact that he fell to the 13th absolutely floored me, and I was pretty sure every team but St. Louis was going to regret it.

My point is, he didn't come out of nowhere. When he was a sophomore in high school, I was pretty sure he was going to have a good major league career.

That said, I don't know if he's clean or not. He was built like a man back in 1997, and he's filled out like we all did (for better or worse) in our 20s. I hope it's not chemical in his case because he's got out-of-this-world talent, and like Poz, I want to believe in him.

 

It's possible to believe in the magic of sports and write about it without buying into the heroes/villains construct that so many writers get trapped in.
There are winners and losers.
There are heroes in games and goats in games.
But heroes and villains in sports? No, not really. I'm not a cynic. I'm a realist.