First things first.  You may be aware that Devil Rays 2B is putting the finishing touches on an excellent season.  Then again, you may not, as Cantu is the 2nd baseman on the Devil Rays and really, nobody pays attention to them.  But outside perhaps of Jeff Kent, no second sacker in the league has been better offensively than Cantu.  While you (and I) weren't paying attention, he's managed to pile up 28 homes, 115 RBI, a .289 BA, .503 SLG, and .803 OPS.  The only real knock against him is his 18 walks translate into a .313 OBP.  Not quite Christian Guzman, but still that number should be higher.  To think these guys were planning on playing Robbie Alomar at the beginning of the year.

Add Cantu to Carl Crawford, Scott Kazmir, Jonny Gomes, Joey Gathright, Justin Upton, Delmon Young, a returning Rocco Baldelli, a great trade chip in Aubrey Huff, and Mark Hendrickson (every baseball team needs a guy who can dunk), and the Devil Rays have a bright future, evidenced by their 2nd half performance.  Of course, we all said the same thing going into this season, after the Rays had a good 2nd half in '04. 

Other guys who have had great years that have flown under the radar:  Garrett Atkins and Matt Holliday for Colorado, Bill Hall for Milwaukee, Oakland's Mark Ellis and Dan Johnson.  Jessie Crain has been incredible for the Twins, Solomon Torres has been very effective out of the bullpen for Pittsburgh, and Arizona's Chad Tracy.  There are plenty of others, especially on bad teams.  It's another post for another day. 

NL WEST UPDATE:  I'd congratulate the Padres for nearly clinching the division, but I don't think anything that comes out of there deserves praise. 

AL WEST UPDATE:  I love the Angels.  While they started the season with more talent than the Dodgers, and by all rights should be where they are, comparing the two LA teams is like night and day.  The Angels have dealt with injuries and ineffectiveness from stars (hello, Steve Finley), yet kept it together.  They watched the A's catch them, but instead of folding, they kept playing.  I'm a huge fan of Dodgers manager Jim Tracy, but the Angels under Mike Scioscia have played much like the Cardinals this season (or the Dodgers last year).  No matter what happens, it's the team on the field that has to perform.  No excuses.  The Dodgers can't say that, though much of the blame goes to GM Paul DePodesta for the team he constructed. 

NL CENTRAL UPDATE:  The Cards wrapped it up weeks ago, because they're awesome.  Thought I'd throw that out there.   

Finally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Indians and White Sox.  Not just because I said the Indians would win the Central, and that the Yanks wouldn't make the playoffs (a prediction made in midseason, in the interests of full disclosure), but because the offseason is so much more fun when George Steinbrenner is angry.

Like most of the world, I've been gearing up because for tomorrow's season premiere of Lost.  Unlike most people, I've crammed the entire season into about 3 days of DVD viewing.  (I missed most of last season- getting lost, so to speak, after about the 7th episode.  I knew if wasn't ready for the 2nd season, I'd have to TiVO the first couple episodes, and end up hopelessly behind again.  For reference, check my attempts to follow Fox's Prison Break, scuttled after 2 Mondays.)

Needless to say, I've spent the last couple days with those crazy castaways on the brain, and honestly, it's cut into my baseball time (Between the pennant race, Lost, and Fantasy Football, there really aren't enough hours in the day).  My little DVDathon got me thinking.  Yeah, the pennant race is pressure.  Sure it's tough to look down the barrel of a 2-2 fastball with a man on third, a 1/2 game lead in the wild card, and 50,000 fans screaming at you.  But try walking through the "Dark Territory" while "the others" are breathing down your neck and you've got a boat you want to launch made from bamboo and twine into a very large ocean with no particular idea of where you're headed (I'm currently on the 2nd to last episode...). 

So in that spirit, I'd like to make some comparisons.  If those characters on the pressure filled environment of Lost were teams in the pressure filled pennant race, which ones would they be? 

Jack (Matthew Fox)-  Dependable, honorable, highly motivated, and seems to be good at everything you need to do on an island.  Solid in every area, all Jack seems to lack is a fully developed sense of humor.  All business, his satisfaction comes in seeing the job done.   He's probably the best thing the island has to offer. 

HIS TEAM:  St. Louis Cardinals.  So focused, they refused to celebrate their division title when they had technically clinched- no that didn't happen a month ago- through tiebreakers against the Astros.  Instead, they waited one more day.   These guys mean business. 

John Locke (Terry O'Quinn)- Enigmatic and extremely resourceful, he is the MacGyver of the jungle.  A boy scout on steroids.  An encyclopedia of stuff the rest of us learn on The Nature Channel.  He lost a kidney, lost his legs, got them back, lost them again, and got them back again.  You just can't get rid of the dude.  Plus, he's full of riddles.  Everyone likes riddles. 

HIs Team: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim-  Every time it seems like they're dead, they come back to life.  They've lost their power hitter (Steve Finley, who has basically ****** all year), and another power source (Dallas McPherson).  But they've stayed on top.  Why?  Because they're resourceful.  Any team whose second leading home run hitter is stuck on 15 (Garrett Anderson) needs to be. 

Kate (Evangeline Lilly)- She's young, she's hot, she's gonna be good for a long time.  You'd think by looking she wouldn't be helpful, or couldn't do any damage, but lo and behold, she kicks serious a**.   And as for Evangeline Lilly, how the heck did anyone go this long without discovering them?

Her Team:  The Cleveland Indians- They're young, they're hot, and they're gonna be good for a long time.  You'd think by looking that they might not be helpful (okay, I picked them to win the division), or at least you would have thought that 40 games into the season.  Lo and behold, they can do a ton of damage, and kick some serious a**.  How did we go so long without discovering them?

Boone (Ian Somerhalder)- Runs a wedding company (not too manly), has a crush on his step-sister, tries to be brave, tries to be useful.  He's good looking enough that you think something good will come out of him, but he just ends up dead in the end. 

His Team: The New York Mets- They have a crush on their step brothers (the Yankees), or at least their success.  They try to be brave, and they want desperately to be useful (hence Omar Minaya's offseason spending spree).  They look good enough on paper, with Beltran, Pedro, Benson, and Wright, but in the end, they just end up dead. 

Sawyer (Josh Holloway)- He plays dirty, is more than a little unpleasant, and nobody likes him.  And man, oh man, has that guy got some serious family issues. 

His Team: The New York Yankees- Think for a second.  Isn't a seven gazillion dollar payroll past kosher?  Isn't collecting an all-star team kind of unfair? Ignore for a second that at this point, they're season rests on Aaron Small and Robinson Cano as much as the Unit, A Rod and Sheffield.  That's not how it was supposed to happen.  Outside of New York, nobody roots for these guys.  And any team run by George Steinbrenner is gonna have some family issues.  That's a given.

Hurley (Jorge Garcia)- Entertaining, occasionally useful, bloated comic relief. 

His Team: San Francisco Giants- Fine, they're not entertaining, and they don't really provide any comic relief (it's not like they're the Rockies, or anything).  But sitting 11 games under .500 with a $90+ million payroll, they're certainly bloated. 

Among the sportswriting Kamenetzky's, I am known as an unabashed Albert Pujols fan.  He's the greatest thing since sliced bread.  Better, really, since I haven't bought a loaf of Wonder since I graduated from college.  He has the power of Mickey Mantle and the discipline of Tony Gwynn (58 strikeouts? That's a good month for Adam Dunn).  No player is more focused on winning.  That alone would make Pujols worth every penny of the big, long term contract the Cards gave him.  But he's more.  Pujols has turned himself into one of baseball's best first basemen and is an amazing baserunner, always hustling out of the box and always taking the extra base.  Dude is not fast, yet he's stolen 14 bases this season because he constantly takes advantage of pitchers who doesn't pay close enough attention.  In nearly 5 full seasons, he's a career .334 hitter, has 196 home runs, a career .416 OBP and 1.040 OPS.  Sick.   He is the kind of player about whom you tell stories to your grandchildren. 

Yet he's never won an MVP.

Fine, you say.  He's been in the Bonds era.  It's hard to argue against Barry (although I've occasionally tried).   But this year, with Barry on the shelf, it's not much different.  Most of the MVP buzz right now is on the red hot Andruw Jones.  Sure, Jones leads the NL in homers and RBI's, but his lead in the latter isn't all that large.  Meanwhile, Pujols has him dominated in just about every other statistical category there is. 

It may not matter.  Why?  I'll tell you. 

I was watching PTI a couple days ago, when Jay Mariotti was putting forward his reasons why Jones is a better MVP candidate than King Albert.  After going through the obvious- his lead in HR's, that he's finally having that true breakout season, that Pujols gets so much protection in the Cardinals lineup (with their injuries, by the way, that's debatable.  Yadier Molina hit cleanup a couple days back)- he got to the kicker:

Albert Pujols isn't even having a dominant, Albert Pujols season.  He's capable of more.  His '05, by his standards, has been standard.   That's when it hit me.

Pujols may be the new Shaq. 

Quick quiz... how many MVP awards has the player many consider to be the most dominant force basketball has ever seen actually put on his mantle?  Six?  Seven?  Try one.  He suffers from "Shaq Syndrome", where everyone knows how good he is, and expects him to be better than everyone else.  He's bigger and better.  He should dominate.  It's just too easy to vote for Shaq.  Who else is around that deserves a vote?   

Pujols, if members of the media aren't careful, could end up filling the same role.   He'll probably never have seasons too much better or too much worse than the ones he's turned in each year of his career (really, how much better can he get?).  15% in either direction, year in and year out.  Maybe one monster where he can't be ignored, but other than that, just another Albert Pujols season.  He's always there, so who else can we vote for?  Who's the guy having that sexy, surprise season?  The guy on a team that shouldn't be as good?  The guy that isn't freakin' boring?  That's who gets my vote! 

Meanwhile, Pujols, like clockwork goes .330, 45, 130.  Year in and year out, while his mantle stays clear of trophylike clutter. 

Maybe I'm overreacting.  Maybe he'll win it this season, and take home five or six more before he's done. 

Or, maybe we'll look back in 10 or 12 years, after Albert retires, and wonder, "How the heck did that guy only win 2 MVPs?"