Phat Albert phatter than Ever!

Albert Pujols is only the greatest slugger/hitter for average/clutch hitter in baseball since....Ted Williams? Babe Ruth? E-E-V-E-R?

Albert is closing in on his first 50-HR season--he now has 45 in 140 team games, needing 5 in the remaining 22 to make it. He has picked up the pace recently, hitting 5 in his last 11 games, his best stretch since June 27-July 3. Of course, if he falls short, and NEVER makes 50, he'll be in good company--great sluggers like Henry Aaron, Harmon Killebrew, Frank Robinson and Lou Gehrig never hit 50 in one season.

I saw a headline around the end of Pujol's monster June something to the effect of "Let the Pujols 60-HR Watch begin." That was a bit premature. Yes, he had 30 after 79 team games, and even 34 after 92, but then he proved human (for a bit, anyway!), going through a dry stretch of 16 straight games without going yard. He broke that string on August 4 with, incredibly, his 9th multi-homer game of the year, but all his homers have come one-per-game only since then so far.

Pujols had been on the "certain" 60 or even 70 homer pace before, when he started 2006 with 25 dingers in the first 51 team games (actually a ridiculous pace of 79 or 80 for a full year!) Then Albert went on the disabled list for the first time in his career in early June that year, and when he returned (much earlier than expected) he was merely great instead of superhuman, hitting 24 in the remaining 91 team games, falling one short of 50 for the year (As consolation, he saved his team from the most embarrassing choke in history, helping them salvage a playoff spot, and led them to a World Championship).

One other interesting fact about Pujols (yeah, I'm obsessed with the guy--if you don't like it, you're free to stop reading at any time!): He has increased his frequency of walks per plate appearance every year of his career. Here's the rundown:
2001: 10.2% (69 in 676)
2002: 10.7% (72 in 675)
2003: 11.5% (79 in 685)
2004: 12.1% (84 in 692)
2005: 13.9% (97 in 700)
2006: 14.5% (92 in 634)
2007: 14.6% (99 in 679)
2008: 16.2% (104 in 641)
2009 (so far): 17.3% (104 in 601)

And, to top things off, Albert is on pace to lead the league in walks for the first time, as well as in home runs for the first time. Go, Albert!