The New Mr. (and Miss) October?

Hasta la vista...baby

"Sr. Octubre": I'll make a pretty strong case that there is a new October hombre in town: Albert Pujols.


Maybe he has just shifted into full salary drive following a good, but not great, 2011 regular season, but one cannot ignore an impressive postseason performance thus far: he's hitting .419 and reaching base half the time he steps to the plate.


This 2011 performance is not an aberration to the positive, as Albert has notched consistently strong postseason numbers. In addition, this will be the third time he has led the Cardinals to the World Series in eight years. Forget all the free agency and monster contract talk you have heard (and will hear); let's look at what Pujols has done thus far in postseason play and compare that to the "original" Mr. October, Reggie Jackson:

• Pujols: 67 games, 15 HRs, 46 RBI, .339 BA & .441 OBP
• Jackson: 77 games, 18 HRs, 48 RBI, .278 BA & .354 OBP

There's Only One Reggie!

That .441 OBP (on base percentage) blows Reggie and other frequent post-season participants away (see below.) Like Pujols, Reggie was pitched to with care (or not at all); however, one could argue that Jackson had a consistently stronger hitting lineup around him. Still, Jackson did play in five World Series (two with Oakland and three with New York) and his teams won four of them (per MLB.com). Reggie certainly had a flair for the dramatic and his home run barrage against the Dodgers in 1977 is that of baseball legend (four home runs off four different pitchers on four consecutive pitches.) Some might argue these figures alone trump anyone else's claim to this title. Maybe so.


Here are two other high profile players (Derrick Jeter and Alex Rodriguez) with a similar frequency of postseason play (amazing...Jeter has almost played an entire year of post season play):

• Jeter: 152 (!) games, 20 HRs, 59 RBI, .307 BA & .374 OBP
• Rodriguez: 68 games, 13 HRs, 41 RBI, .277 BA & .386 OBP

I don't believe one player can carry an entire baseball team, but he can certainly affect his team's run production and disrupt how an opposing team pitches directly (or indirectly) to him and those around him. If you consider that the postseason is the time when you need your best player to step forward and perform at his best, then I know who I want coming to the plate. 


So maybe there is only one "Mr. October"...but Albert Pujols can certainly stake him claim on "Sr. Octubre" status.

...maybe I should take
my act back to South Beach?

Baseball's Lebron James? After yet another post-season flame out, the highest paid player in baseball has certainly become a lightning rod for criticism and blame among Yankee fans. Sports radio and newspaper articles were pulling up some pretty unimpressive stats that Mr. Rodriguez has managed to accumulate in October.


He has managed to make the final out (striking out no less) to end the Yankees' season two years in a row. He was 2 for 18 in this just-completed series; 9 for 50 over the past two post-seasons.


I am no math wizard, but that works out to a batting average of approximately exactly: .180; not the kind of figures that are gonna get his Jheri-curled mug etched onto a Yankee Stadium monument. No sirree.  

Hey A-Rod! You Swing 'Like a Prayer'

Rodriguez seems to have found ways in which to repeatedly fail and disappoint Yankee fans on the biggest stage. After watchng him do this for six out of seven years of postseason play (to be fair, he did hit .369 during the 2009 World Series run,) the Bronx fans let him know how they felt. Watch the end of this video if you don't believe how his act plays: Alex has six years left on his contract. If Reggie was Mr. October and Albert is Sr. Octubre, then A-Rod is Miss October...and no, I don't think he is dating one either.


Baseball's Night to Remember I have bashed on baseball in previous columns regarding the length of season, games, etc. and how it losing the young viewers and we can assume, fans and future players. Want more proof? Darren Rovell of CNBC reported that the median age of LCS Game #5 audience for FOX has risen accordingly over the past five years: 1996 (46 years), 2001 (49 years), 2006 (51 years), 2011 (55 years). Thank goodness I watched and could bring that cumulative age down.


Still, it is a great sport when played well. When games really matter, and you get nights like Wednesday, September 28th, it is downright magical (or exceedingly painful, depending upon your perspective.) Those of you who stayed up late witnessed two playoff winners and losers determined within minutes of one another's games (Cards, Rays, Braves, and Red Sox.) If you want to relive the anguish from the perspective of a die-hard Boston Fan, here is Bill Simmons' recap from his Grantland website: "A Running Diary of Game 162."


I have to say that it was as great an evening of Fall Madness that I can ever remember. Perhaps it helped that I am a St. Louis Cardinal fan and could just sit back and watch the others win and/or lose after the Cards eeked out an 8-0 win, but to have bottom-of-the-ninth heroics and collapses and extra inning dramatics all happen simultaneously...a viewing treat.


Baseball could use more nights like these. For the dozen or so of us who will be watching the World Series, let's hope we get a few more.