He got off to a relatively slow start in 2011, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if he still has some good years left in him, but I would be surprised if they were as good as his years with the Cardinals.
I thought resentment from some St. Louis fan over Pujols leaving, and the media questions of “Can the Cardinals survive without Albert Pujols?” were silly even back in Spring 2012. They look incredibly silly now.
Pujols admits he’s playing hurt. I think the Angels ridiculously overpaid for him, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him rebound, but certainly not his previous level of greatness.
Josh Hamilton seems to be a head case and I could easily see him finishing the year with stats that would embarass a player in class A ball. He could easily be the Dontrelle Willis of hitting.
Do you think he is really 33? Shaving a couple years off one’s age is hardly unusual for players coming out of the Dominican Republic.
I’ve never heard that he was suspected of being older than his reported age, but I suppose it’s possible. As much as he has portrayed himself as an upstanding Christian, and even allowed his image to be used in religious materials, I really hope that’s not true. It would not be a victimless crime: the team would be ripped off by paying for something different from what it thought it was getting.
People have been saying this about Pujols since he was in high school. No proof has ever emerged. That doesn’t mean it can’t be true, but it makes me tend to doubt it. He’s not one of those guys who was signed to a big advance coming out of the Dominican Republic: his family moved to the U.S. when he was 16 and he was drafted when he was 19. I always hesitate to say this kind of thing but you’d think if he had a fake birth certificate somebody would’ve found it by now.
You’re probably right about the birth certificate, or an intrepid reporter finding classmates who remembered his age and grade level.
I’ve always wondered after reading an article about the scouts who followed him in high school. Apparently the scouts just took it for granted that he was older than he claimed. There were a lot of comments about how he looked like a full-grown man playing against a bunch of boys. Maybe he was just one of those kids who look older than their age.
Well, Ned Yost pulls James Shields out of a 2-hit gem in the 9th, only to have Greg Holland blow it up. To add insult to injury, Yost went Full Leyland, and intentionally walked a career .318 OBP player to load the bases. Obviousness has ensued.
The thing I have always heard about the birth certs in DR is that they take a kind of relaxed attitude toward them. I am going by my memory of discussion on the former Up and In Podcast about a different player who was signed internationally by the Rangers a couple of years back and there was an age controversy.
They were saying that it wasn’t so much that people faked them, just that they might not have them issued for several years after the birth because there wasn’t any real need, so actual birth year dates were frequently just wrong.
Again, though, Pujols was not signed directly out of the D.R. He lived in the USA for a little while. It’s a bit harder for me to swallow than a 19-year-old (let’s say) pretended to be 16 in his new country.
In any event, it is normal for players to decline in their earky 30s. It’s not like Pujols is falling apart at 28, and last year, after an atrocious start - way worse than this start - he ended up having a damned good year.
And the hapless Blue Jays, somehow, come back from 7-0 to win 8-7.
According to the broadcast this is only the fifth time in the history of the franchise the team has come back from seven or more runs to win a game. I find that surprising. 7-run comebacks aren’t super common, but you’d think a team would pull one off more than once every six or seven years.
Mark Reynolds got beaned in the 1st, and NO SIR, HE DIDN’T LIKE THAT!
“A Whole New Blue”
Bullshit.
It’s the same old Blue, only it costs more. The Dodgers are about three losses from needing a new manager, but replacing Mattingly won’t help. Right now they ought to send the whole team down to the minors and call up Albuquerque intact. Couldn’t play any worse.
Well, I’m less worried about whether the Jays win tonight and more just prepared to be relieved that J.A. Happ doesn’t die.
Are you hearing any news locally? ESPN has been quiet.
It doesn’t help that the whole starting infield and half the pitchers are on the DL. I don’t blame management as much as I blame the front office. Donnie is managing with less than a full roster…again and it’s not like there aren’t minor leaguers who could help out. It’s stupid. But then, the team is still being run by Uncle Ned so what do we expect.
Oh right, we are going to expect trading Puig and Lee to the Angels for Mike Scioscia, because that’s whats going to happen if we keep losing. Never mind Scioscia being a worse manager than Mattingly in every meaningful way, including in all the ways that I don’t like Mattingly.
Nothing, but I saw the play once, and that’s enough. I hope to see no replays. He was moving on the ground, but head injuries are terrifying.
Watching the Reds can be quite the roller coaster of emotion. Two and a half hours of frustration with Dusty batting Zach Cozart second in the lineup and Corky Miller anywhere in the lineup. Then with two outs in the 9th, Devin Mesoraco hits a pinch hit home run to tie the game off Craig Kimbrel, and Shin-Soo Choo follows that with his second home run of the game to win it.
Reds fans would love the team to extend Choo’s contract, but he is quickly making himself unaffordable.
Don’t worry, we have Billy Hamilton!
Still no update on Happ? I expected something by now. Hopefully he is OK but that did sound very bad.
ESPN says Happ was reported to be in stable condition last night, and that the Jays say he should be released from the hospital today. I didn’t see this last night but that’s a scary hit. They really need to move their asses on this headgear for pitchers issue.