Albert Pujols and Shaq...

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?"