Ex-Mets Come Out On Top At Winter Meetings

Earlier this week in Dallas at the Late Fall Meetings, the Mets came away with three new relief pitchers and a new centerfielder.  They made a trade to acquire centerfielder Andres Torres and reliever Ramon Ramirez from the Giants, and signed free agents Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco to close out games.

The Mets weren't the only team to wheel and deal in Dallas.  In fact, it seemed as if every transaction involved a former Met.  So which former Met left Dallas with the biggest smile on his face?  You may be surprised when you hear the answer.  Let's run through the list of former Mets who were involved in transactions since the beginning of December.  (Players listed alphabetically)

• Rod Barajas (one year, $4 million from Pittsburgh)
• Heath Bell (three years, $27 million from Miami)
• Chris Capuano (two years, $10 million from Los Angeles)
• Octavio Dotel (one year, $3.5 million from Detroit)
• Jose Reyes (six years, $106 million from Miami)

All of those former Mets will be counting their millions all the way to the bank, but none of them has as big a smile on his face as another former Met.  So tell me, my fellow Mets fans, do you remember Jerry DiPoto?

That, my friends, is ex-Met Jerry DiPoto.  Please don't all say "who dat?" at the same time.

Jerry DiPoto came to the Mets in a trade conducted during the 1994-95 players strike.  The Cleveland Indians sent DiPoto, along with fellow pitchers Paul Byrd and Dave Mlicki to the Mets in exchange for outfielder Jeromy Burnitz and pitcher Joe Roa.

DiPoto pitched two seasons for the Mets, going 11-8 with a 3.98 ERA.  His line in 1996 was one of the oddest in baseball, as DiPoto had a sky-high 1.76 WHIP (allowing 136 baserunners in 77.1 innings), yet he finished the season with a 7-2 record.  Of course, that's what happens when the runs you give up belong to somebody else, as DiPoto allowed 18 of 38 inherited baserunners to score, with none of those runs being charged to him.

So why would Jerry DiPoto, a man whose pitching career ended in 2000 at the age of 32, have the biggest smile on his face coming out of this year's Late Fall Meetings?  Perhaps that has something to do with his current job as the general manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Orange County near Disneyland.

After only four months as a general manager in the major leagues (two and a half months with Arizona in 2010 and six weeks with Los Angeles/Anaheim/Orange County/Disneyland), DiPoto made the biggest splash at the Late Fall Meetings, signing future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols to a ten-year, quarter billion dollar contract and top free agent starting pitcher C.J. Wilson to a five-year, $77.5 million deal.  DiPoto did all this despite being on the job for less time than it took Steve Trachsel to throw a pitch with men on base (men that DiPoto would likely have allowed to score had he been a teammate of Trachsel's on the Mets).

No wonder Jerry DiPoto is smiling.  He just heard that the 1995-96 Mets player reunion was canceled.

Within a matter of 24 hours, the Angels signed the best hitter on the planet (no offense to Val Pascucci, but Pujols has surpassed him at the plate) and took away their division rival's ace starting pitcher.

The Texas Rangers, who had to deal with Pujols for seven games in last October's Fall Classic, will now have to face Pujols a minimum of 18 times per season over the next decade.  And they also won't have C.J. Wilson, who did not allow a hit to Pujols in six World Series plate appearances against him.  Instead, the Rangers will have to face Wilson with Pujols backing up his new teammate at first base.  All this is due to the swift dealings of Jerry DiPoto.

When Jerry DiPoto was a Met in the mid-'90s, he was a vulture on the mound, swooping in to record seven victories in 1996 despite not being adept at keeping runners off the basepaths.  Although he is no longer an active player on the field, DiPoto has become quite active off the field and he clearly still hasn't given up his vulture tendencies.  Just ask the St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers and especially the Miami Marlins, who thought they had the right offers on the table for Pujols and Wilson until DiPoto swooped in and grabbed them away.

Many ex-Mets have had a December to remember so far.  But Jerry DiPoto has topped them all.  He played for Dallas (Green) when he was a Met in 1995 and 1996, then he went to Dallas (Texas) and played all the other general managers there by scoring the biggest free agent hitter and pitcher on the market.  It's no wonder Jerry DiPoto is the ex-Met with the biggest smile on his face.

World Series Recap: I Blame C.J. Wilson

The Texas Rangers were one strike away from winning the World Series in the ninth inning of Game 6.  They blew that lead.  They were one strike away from winning the World Series in the tenth inning as well.  That lead also went poof.  In Game 7, they were 25 outs away from winning the World Series before blowing that lead.

You can say the Rangers lost because David Freese happened.  You can say they lost because the Cardinals had just watched the 1986 World Series DVD as an educational video.  You can say many things about why the Rangers lost.  I'm blaming C.J. Wilson.

 You can't hide from us, C.J.  We know it was your fault the Rangers lost the World Series.

Nelson Cruz had hit his record-tying eighth home run in the 2011 postseason, a shot off designated intentional walker Lance Lynn.  That blast gave the Rangers a 6-4 lead in the seventh inning of Game 6.  Cruz later misplayed David Freese's line drive to turn a World Series-clinching out into a World Series-tying two-run triple.  Blame Nelson Cruz all you want.  I'm blaming C.J. Wilson.

The Texas Rangers pitching staff allowed 41 walks over the seven games, breaking the old World Series record of 40 set by the 1997 Florida Marlins.  Alexi Ogando, who was a strong Rookie of the Year candidate until the Mets beat him up in late June, allowed seven of those 41 walks in only 2 2/3 innings.  Despite his erratic arm, Rangers manager Ron Washington brought him into six of the seven games, where he also gave up seven hits in addition to his seven walks.  It would appear as if Alexi Ogando or Ron Washington would be culpable for this.  I'm blaming C.J. Wilson.

The bullpen of Mike Adams, Neftali Feliz, Mike Gonzalez, Scott Feldman, Alexi Ogando, Darren Oliver and Mark Lowe combined to pitch 19 2/3 innings in the World Series.  After an impressive regular season, ALDS and ALCS, the relievers faltered in the World Series, combining to post an 8.24 ERA and 2.34 WHIP.   The lowest ERA of the Sad Seven belonged to Adams, who led the bullpen with a 4.50 ERA in two appearances.  Blame the bullpen coach or any member of the Sad Seven.  I'm blaming C.J. Wilson.

Ron Washington should have continued to pitch batting practice instead of letting his relievers do so during the actual games.

In Game 3, Albert Pujols went 5-for-6 with three home runs and six runs batted in.  In the other six games, he went 1-for-19 with no RBIs.  However, that one hit came in one of his many "this could be his last at-bat for the Cardinals" plate appearances in Game 6.  Pujols' one-out double into the gap in left-center set the stage for Freese's ninth-inning heroics.  Because of Pujols' reputation as the best hitter in the league and that ninth inning double, the Rangers decided to issue one of the aforementioned 41 walks to Pujols in the tenth inning when they were one out away from becoming World Series champions.  Oops.  Lance Berkman followed El Hombre's intentional walk with an RBI single, sending the game into the 11th inning.  Blame pitching coach Mike Maddux or Albert Pujols' aura.  I'm blaming C.J. Wilson.

C.J. Wilson started two games of the World Series.  After an excellent regular season in which he went 16-7 with a 2.94 ERA, Wilson actually had a lower ERA in the World Series.  His 2.92 ERA in two starts and one relief appearance helped keep the Rangers in the series.  It was Wilson's effort in Game 5 (one run allowed in 5 1/3 innings) that set the stage for Mike Napoli's go-ahead two-run double in the eighth inning, a hit that propelled the Rangers to a 3-2 series lead.

It looks as if C.J. Wilson did everything he could to help the Rangers win the World Series.  So why am I blaming him for the World Series loss?  Because the seeds for this loss were planted in Arizona in mid-July.

 The Fall Classic was lost during the Midsummer Classic, thanks to C.J. Wilson.

During the Midsummer Classic, the American League led 1-0 when manager Ron Washington (maybe I should blame him too) brought in C.J. Wilson to pitch the fourth inning.  Wilson allowed a leadoff single to then-Met Carlos Beltran, followed by a line drive single to Matt Kemp.  He then allowed a titanic three-run homer to Prince Fielder (see photo above), which gave the National League a 3-1 lead.  The American League would not score again in the NL's 5-1 All-Star Game victory.

Prince Fielder's bomb off C.J. Wilson essentially gave the National League home-field advantage in the World Series.  Hence, that is why the wild card-winning Cardinals were able to play Games 6 and 7 at Busch Stadium instead of having those games played in Arlington, home of the division-winning Rangers.  Had Game 6 been played in Texas, the Cardinals would not have gotten a last chance to tie the game in the ninth and tenth innings and could not have possibly won the game in walk-off fashion.  It might have been the Rangers celebrating a World Series championship instead of the Cardinals celebrating an improbable comeback victory in Game 6.

So blame Ron Washington, Mike Maddux, Nelson Cruz or the entire Texas Rangers bullpen.  They might share in the blame for the Rangers' seven-game World Series loss to the Cardinals, but I'm blaming C.J. Wilson.  Had he been able to keep one ball in the park in July, the Rangers might have been having a ball in their park in October as first-time World Series champions.

Don't drop the ball, C.J.  Oh, wait.  Never mind.  You already did in the All-Star Game.

Win Some, Lose Some, Draw None

It has been well-documented that attendance at Citi Field suffered a significant drop-off from its inaugural season in 2009 to the just-completed 2010 season. Last year, a total of 3,168,571 tickets were sold to Mets home games. That number dropped to 2,559,738 in 2010.

The significant drop-off in home attendance can be attributed to numerous things, such as the luster of the new ballpark wearing off and the team's second consecutive losing season.

The new ballpark might have been enough to attract fans in 2009, but a good product on the field is what usually keeps fans in the seats. The Mets were not able to give the fans a good product on the field, so they didn't show up as often as they did in 2009, averaging only 32,401 fans per game in 2010.

Fair enough. The home fans had no desire to invest their time and money on a team that couldn't compete for a post-season spot. So how do you explain what happened to attendance figures once the Mets went on the road?

Believe it or not, out of the sixteen teams in the National League, the Mets finished dead last in road attendance. That's right, my friends. The Mets drew fewer fans on the road than the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates. I'll give you a moment to take that in...

...moment's up. The Mets drew an average of 29,318 fans per road game, slightly lower than the Washington Nationals' average of 29,664. No team in the National League brought fewer people to the ballpark on the road than the New York Mets. (By contrast, the New York Yankees led the major leagues in road attendance with an average of 34,939 fans per game.)

So what could possibly be the reason for the lack of interest in Mets road games? There may be a few.

The Mets don't have the marquee name that fans in other cities want to see. The Nationals, despite their last-place finish in the NL East, had phenom Stephen Strasburg on the mound for 12 starts, five of which were on the road. The following numbers are the attendance figures for Strasburg's five road games, followed by the average home attendance figures per game at that particular venue:

• June 13 @Cle: 32,876 (17,385)
• June 28 @Atl: 42,889 (30,989)
• July 16 @Fla: 27,037 (18,825)
• July 21 @Cin: 37,868 (25,438)
• Aug. 21 @Phi: 45,266 (45,027)

The average attendance for those five Strasburg road games was 37,133, which was 7,469 more than for an average Washington Nationals road game. Other than the road game in Philadelphia, which normally sells out all home games regardless of the opponent, the other four teams saw significant increases in their attendance in games that were started by Stephen Strasburg.

Who do the Mets have that fans in other cities want to see? Johan Santana? David Wright? Jose Reyes? Although they're all good players, they no longer have the superstar label attached to them. Fans don't stop what they're doing to see Johan throw another change-up and they don't rush back from the concession stands whenever Wright or Reyes step up to the plate.

The Mets haven't had a must-see, get back in your seat-type player since the early days of Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. Until they bring up a can't miss phenom (something they don't currently have in their minor league system) or sign/trade for a potential Hall-of-Famer in the prime of his career, the Mets won't be appealing to fans on the road, especially if they continue to be a mediocre team. This brings me to the other reason.

The Mets are just not interesting enough for fans in other cities to come watch them play. Among the leaders in road attendance in 2010 were the Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox, Giants, Rockies and Braves, all of whom either made the post-season or contended for a playoff berth. Two non-contending teams (Dodgers and Cubs) finished in the top five in road attendance, but those teams have huge followings nationwide and will draw fans on the road regardless of their won-loss record.

Teams like the Yankees, Phillies and Red Sox can boast recent success and teams like the Cubs, Dodgers and Giants have the history that attracts fans to the gates. The Mets can't claim either recent success or the long-term history that the other teams can.

Let's say the Mets are playing at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. A Pirates fan doesn't have much to root for on his/her own team, so he/she might choose to attend a Bucs game depending on the opponent.


If you were a Pirates fan, who would you rather pay to see? The perennial contenders from St. Louis, featuring the most complete hitter in the game, Albert Pujols? The cross-state rivals from Philadelphia, who have All-Stars wherever you look? The westerners from San Francisco, who can give you a Cy Young-caliber performance from Tim Lincecum and others? Or the New York Mets?

More than likely, that fan would choose any of the other teams listed above before choosing to see the Mets, especially if he or she is there to see players not dressed in Pirates uniforms.

Mets fans in New York are not going to come out to Citi Field in droves until management can put a competitive team on the field that will be playing meaningful games well into September and perhaps October. Similarly, if the Mets don't give fans in other cities a good enough reason to come out to the ballpark other than the promise of mediocrity and good, but not great players, empty seats will continue to follow them wherever they go.

Looks like the only place the Mets are making themselves at home is at the bottom of the road attendance figures.

...And Out Come The Wolves

In the classic "Who's On First" comedy routine, made famous in the 1945 film "The Naughty Nineties", Bud Abbott (in the uniform of the fictional St. Louis Wolves) confused Lou Costello with the names of the Wolves' players. Even with knowledge of said players' names, Costello still did not know who was on first, what was on second, etc.

Now let's fast forward to the 21st century. Sixty-five years after the Wolves from St. Louis became household names, some new wolves have descended upon St. Louis to feast on Mets' manager Jerry Manuel.

The wolves in question are Mets bloggers and the reason for their ire is Jerry Manuel's decision-making ability (or lack thereof).

Last night, the Mets held a slim 1-0 lead over St. Louis (the Cardinals, not the Wolves) going to the bottom of the seventh inning. Oliver Perez had pitched beautifully, holding the Cardinals to three hits and three walks over six scoreless innings. After David Freese reached first on an infield single, centerfielder Joe Mather sacrificed Freese successfully to second. The bunt came on Ollie's 97th pitch and brought up pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker, who was batting for shortstop (and eighth-place hitter) Brendan Ryan.

Out popped Jerry Manuel from his hot seat in the dugout. Was he coming out to talk strategy with Ollie? No! He came out to take Ollie out of the game!

Did he fear that Schumaker would take Ollie deep? Hopefully not, as Schumaker had hit 15 HR and driven in only 103 runs in 1,358 career at-bats. (By comparison, Cubs' pitcher Carlos Zambrano has hit 20 career HR in 563 at-bats coming into this season.)

Apparently, Manuel was too busy looking over his shoulder to notice that Oliver Perez had been dominating the best hitter in baseball all game. In three at-bats against Ollie, Albert Pujols grounded into a double play in the first, grounded out weakly in the third, and struck out on only three pitches in the sixth. If Pujols was having trouble hitting Ollie, did Manuel really think a man literally half Pujols' size (see photo below) would fare better?

Let's just say Manuel took Ollie out because he thought 97 pitches was enough. Even so, why did he bring in Fernando Nieve to face the diminutive Schumaker? Had he not checked to see that Nieve had NEVER retired Schumaker before? Prior to last night, Nieve had faced the Mighty Mite three times and had given up a single and two walks to Schumaker. Sure enough, Schumaker's on-base percentage against Nieve remained at 1.000 when Fernando hit Schumaker on an 0-2 pitch.

The next batter was pinch-hitter Matt Holliday, the second-best hitter on the Cardinals after Pujols. Again, Nieve had an 0-2 count on the hitter, but lost Holliday by throwing four consecutive balls to load up the bases.

For the second time in the inning, Dead Manuel Walking (remind me to trademark that name) vacated his hot seat, this time to remove the ineffective Nieve and replace him with the inexperienced Raul Valdes. Ordinarily, this would have been an ideal situation for Pedro Feliciano to come into the game. However, Feliciano was unavailable to pitch due to a big-@$$ stomach bug that caused him to use an IV during the game.

So instead, Valdes, whose major league résumé consisted of five innings pitched (or 1.1 innings less than Ollie had pitched earlier in the game) was brought in to face Felipe Lopez. The appearance was Valdes' fourth appearance in the last five games. In his previous three appearances, he had thrown a whopping 83 pitches, but DMW brought him in anyway when he could have brought in fellow lefty Hisanori Takahashi, who had only pitched once in the Mets' last six games.

Four pitches later, a few more coals were added to DMW's hot seat as Felipe Lopez hit a grand slam off Valdes. The long drive to left provided all the scoring the Cardinals would need in the 4-3 victory over the Mets.

Bloggers such as The Coop from My Summer Family and Vegas Rich from Mets Merized Online are both calling for the Marie Antoinette treatment on Jerry Manuel, even if Manuel himself claims not to hear the venomous voices of the Mets bloggers (see photo, right).

After seeing last night's managerial effort (if you can call it that), I think I might be jumping on that bandwagon.

Too many times in the past has a manager lost his job due to the poor play of his players. After all, it's easier to fire the manager than it is to fire 25 players. However, over the years, Dead Manuel Walking has made numerous questionable managerial decisions, especially when it comes to taking out pitchers. Last night's removal of Oliver Perez and subsequent use of Fernando Nieve and Raul Valdes was the latest lesson in Head Scratching 101.

Nieve was called upon to face a batter who had reached base against him every time he had faced him. Why not bring in Ryota Igarashi in that spot, a pitcher Schumaker had no history against?

Valdes was being overused over the past five games. He had appeared in all but one game this week and was not economizing his pitches in each effort (averaging nearly 28 pitches per appearance). Why not bring in the seldom-used Hisanori Takashi in that spot, especially with fellow lefty Pedro Feliciano unavailable due to illness?

Abbott and Costello brought out the Wolves in St. Louis and left their fans howling with laughter. A different type of wolf is bearing down on Jerry Manuel in St. Louis. Unfortunately, Mets fans and bloggers are finding nothing funny about it.

Albert Pujols: Player of The Decade

Studious Metsimus has been reporting on all things Mets for a few months now, but today we're going to step aside and give credit where credit is due. We're going to acknowledge the amazing accomplishments of an opposing player, a man who has taken the baseball world by storm since making his major league debut in 2001 and has become the model of consistency and excellence that all players strive for.

Today we're reserving a special blog for Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals, Studious Metsimus' player of the decade.

José Alberto Pujols was born on January 16, 1980 in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States in 1996. Mets fans might be curious to know that Pujols and his family first moved to New York upon arriving in the United States. However, it is not true that the presence of Rico Brogna at first base for the Mets caused Pujols' family to move to Independence, Missouri.

After a spectacular high school baseball career in which he twice earned all-state honors, Pujols spent one season in a Kansas City area community college, where he continued to mash the ball at a torrid pace, hitting .461 in his only college season.

Despite his accomplishments on the field, major league teams were hesitant to sign Pujols. His hometown Kansas City Royals passed on him even though they barely had a major league team to put on the field. The Tampa Bay Rays were so unimpressed with Pujols that they asked him to try out for the team as a catcher. Scouts did not believe that Pujols was still in his teens and shied away from the older-looking player.

It wasn't until the St. Louis Cardinals decided to take a chance on El Hombre (which is Spanish for "The Man", which was the nickname of Cardinals' legend Stan Musial) by selecting him in the 13th round of the 1999 draft with the 402nd overall pick that Pujols got his chance to show off his natural ability and God-given talent to the masses.

After a superb season in the minor leagues in 2000, the Cardinals still planned on sending Pujols to Triple-A Memphis for the start of the 2001 season. Then a funny thing happened on the way to the minors.

Former Met whipping boy and then-Cardinals' third baseman Bobby Bonilla, the same man who threatened reporter Bob Klapisch by "showing him the Bronx", hurt his hamstring (poor baby), opening a spot on the roster at third base for Pujols. Once Bonilla returned, Pujols bounced around between the infield and the outfield. Although Mark McGwire was still a Cardinal, injuries prevented him from playing the entire season at first base. Pujols' versatility and big bat forced manager Tony La Russa to find a place in the lineup for him every day and the Cardinals were rewarded with a phenomenal rookie season that earned Pujols the 2001 NL Rookie of The Year Award.

Pujols didn't become a full-time first baseman until 2004 as he spent two seasons as the Cardinals' left fielder in 2002 and 2003. By then, he had already established himself as one of the premier players in the game, ranking high on most of the offensive leaderboards.

Still, one thing eluded El Hombre. He didn't have a World Championship ring to go with all his other hardware that he had collected in his early career. He had appeared in one World Series in 2004, but the Cardinals were swept by the Boston Red Sox in that year's Fall Classic. Two years later, Pujols' dream came true. My fellow Mets fans, I advise you not to read the next paragraph.

After a mediocre regular season in which they went 83-78, the Cardinals snuck into the playoffs as the 2006 NL Central division champions. However, they saved their best for last as they defeated the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets in the playoffs. The Cardinals went on to defeat the Detroit Tigers in five games to win their first championship since 1982 and their tenth World Series overall.

Pujols already had the accolades and respect from his teammates and the rest of the league. Now he had the ring to cap it off (and his first Gold Glove Award, also won in 2006). According to a recent article by Joe Strauss in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, even Mets manager Jerry Manuel couldn't help but praise Pujols as the biggest star in the game.

"I don't think there's any doubt where he stands. From what I know of him as an opposing manager and what little relationship I have with him, the man seems as good as the player. It adds up to be a superstar and that's what he is."

Albert Pujols has been one of the most consistent hitters since his rookie season in 2001. His numbers compare favorably with some of the all-time great hitters in baseball. Consider his year-to-year production with the St. Louis Cardinals and you tell me if there's any hitter in baseball who can match his offensive output:

• 2001: .329, 37 HR, 130 RBI
• 2002: .314, 34 HR, 127 RBI
• 2003: .359, 43 HR, 124 RBI
• 2004: .331, 46 HR, 123 RBI
• 2005: .330, 41 HR, 117 RBI
• 2006: .331, 49 HR, 137 RBI
• 2007: .327, 32 HR, 103 RBI
• 2008: .357, 37 HR, 116 RBI
• 2009: .327, 47 HR, 135 RBI

If you take his "worst" numbers for each offensive category mentioned above (if you can call it worst), he's never hit less than .314 and never had less than 32 HR and 103 RBI. What player wouldn't take a season like that? And that's the LEAST you can expect from Pujols!


So why is Studious Metsimus naming Albert Pujols as its Player of The Decade? If what you've read so far is not enough, ponder this.

For the decade of the '00s, (I know some people say the decade lasts from 2001-2010, but for this blog, let's just use the 10-year span from '00 to '09.) Albert Pujols led the National League in all three Triple Crown categories (batting average, home runs, runs batted in). Very few players even challenged him in those three categories.

Pujols hit .334 over the past decade with 366 HR and 1,112 RBI. The runners-up in each category are Todd Helton (.331 average), Adam Dunn (316 HR) and Lance Berkman (1,026 RBI). Please note that Berkman is almost 100 RBI behind Pujols but he played all ten years from 2000-2009, whereas Pujols was still in the minors in 2000, making Albert's RBI output all the more impressive.

His work on the field has been wonderful, but his work off the field is just as special, if not more special. In 2005, along with his wife Deidre, the couple started the Pujols Family Foundation, which serves to help people living with Down syndrome and their families. The foundation also helps raise money for the poor in Pujols' native Dominican Republic.

Note: For more information and to donate to the foundation, please click here: Pujols Family Foundation.

Multiple MVP Awards, two NL pennants, one World Series championship, the Gold Glove in 2006 and the Triple Crown winner for the decade of the '00s. It all adds up to a well-deserved Player of The Decade honor from Studious Metsimus to José Alberto Pujols.

Just think, Mets fans. Had the Mets' scouts noticed Pujols before the Cardinals did in the 13th round of the 1999 baseball draft, we wouldn't have to be wondering who our first baseman would be in 2010. Look how many players have spent significant time at first base for the Mets since 2001: Todd Zeile, Mo Vaughn, Jason Phillips, Mike Piazza, Doug Mientkiewicz, Carlos Delgado and Daniel Murphy. All those years without a steady first baseman (other than Delgado) while the Cardinals have employed the dictionary definition of steady.

Congratulations to El Hombre, the steady Albert Pujols for his Studious Metsimus Player of The Decade honor. Since Pujols won't turn 30 until January, don't be surprised if another Player of The Decade honor is bestowed upon him for the decade of the '10s. That's consistency. That's a Hall-of-Famer. That's Albert Pujols.