Albert Pujols

You didn’t want Albert Pujols coming up. That was basically the scouting report. During his first run in St. Louis, Cardinals No. 5 combined absurd production with the feeling that every mistake over the plate was about to become somebody’s souvenir. Three MVP awards, two championships, and one of the most destructive extended peaks baseball has seen make his argument brutally simple: at his best, how many athletes in this league were better at their sport? That puts him directly in Joe DiMaggio territory, while giving him a modern familiarity DiMaggio can’t match. And unlike the quieter greatness of Nicklas Lidström, Pujols brought visible fear factor every time he stepped into the box. The complication? He didn’t wear 5 for his entire career. Does that matter, or did he do enough damage in it that nobody cares? When you picture Cardinals No. 5, who else are you seeing?