Albert Pujols on Pace for History

Cardinals Slugger Chases Triple Crown

St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols is having a magical season. The slugger enters the holiday weekend batting .335 with 30 home runs and 77 RBI. At his current pace, Pujols is well on his way to a historic season.

Not only does he have a chance to win the National League Triple Crown, but he could also surpass the total of 61 home runs that Roger Maris put up in 1961.

MLB Triple Crown

Each year there's talk of someone making a run at the Triple Crown (leading the league in HRs, RBIs and batting average), but Pujols is one player who actually has a realistic shot.

Not only is he one of the most talented hitters of his generation, but he also has a tendency of excelling in all three of the triple crown categories. During his 9 year career, Pujols has never hit less than 32 home runs with 103 RBI in a season. His lowest batting average ever was .314 in 2002 followed by .327 in 2007.

The St. Louis slugger is currently running away with the National League home run title thanks to a solid first half of the season. He also leads the National League in RBIs, but is being pushed by Milwaukee's Prince Fielder.

The only category that may prevent Pujols from achieving a Triple Crown is batting average. Despite hitting a solid .335, Pujols has his work cut out for him if he wants to become the first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski won the American League award in 1967. He currently trails Hanley Ramirez by a margin of .348 to .335.

If Pujols can maintain his current production and finish with an average around .340, he should become the latest Triple Crown winner.

Pujols Chasing Maris and History

Pujols is on pace to slug 62 home runs this season, which would pass Roger Maris on the single season home run list. If he were to pass Maris, should Pujols be considered the all time single season home run champ? We will hear this question many times throughout the summer as long as Pujols produces at his current rate. The answer should be "absolutely."

Although performance enhancing drugs were not against the rules during the home run binges of the steroid era, they provided an unfair advantage and should be considered cheating.

Many fans were naive during the great McGwire/Sosa home run chase of 1998, easily impressed by the chase as well as the media frenzy that surrounded it. It was also hard not to enjoy every minute of the Bonds chase in 2001 that resulted in 73 round trippers for the current "Home Run King."

A few congressional hearings and Jose Canseco books later, we've all discovered that it was indeed too good to be true. Hopefully, for the sake of the game, we are beyond the steroid era with random testing now being used to put our minds at ease.

Albert Pujols is the first slugger of the "post steroid" era to produce such gaudy numbers. As baseball fans, we should all be cheering for him in hopes that he will achieve this historic season. Maybe, just maybe, he will be the face of redemption for a cleaner America's favorite past time.