With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2013, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty four men on the ballot for the first time this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2013 menu at the top of the page.

In this article, we take a look at Reggie Sanders

Why He Should Get In
Sanders was a rounded player that hit 305 home runs and stole 304 bases over the course of his career.

Why He Should Not Get In
His overall numbers fall short with less than 2,000 hits, less than 1,000 runs batted in, and less than 400 doubles.  He was a good, not great, baseball player.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2013, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty four men on the ballot for the first time this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2013 menu at the top of the page.

In this article, we take a look at Todd Walker

Why He Should Get In
There was very little that could be considered “remarkable” about Todd Walker’s major league career.

Why He Should Not Get In
Walker was a serviceable second baseman but his career was short and underwhelming.  With no awards, no All Star appearnces, and no career numbers that represent milestones, he will be one of the players that will have his name on the ballot for one year.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2013, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty four men on the ballot for the first time this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2013 menu at the top of the page.

In this article, we take a look at Jeff Cirillo

Why He Should Get In
Cirillo was a light hitting player that patrolled the defensive areas of power hitters and run producers.  His career was average.

Why He Should Not Get In
Average does not produce greatness.  While he achieved minor milestones, he did not come close to the types of numbers that Hall Of Fame voters expect, much less considering he played first and third base.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2013, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty four men on the ballot for the first time this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2013 menu at the top of the page.

In this article, we take a look at Woody Williams

Woody Williams
After 15 years and four uniforms in the major leagues, Woody Williams retired from baseball in 2007.  His lone All Star selection came in 2003 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Why He Should Get In
Woody Williams was a fairly unremarkable player over the course of his career who would flash moments of brilliance.

Why He Should Not Get In
He simply does not have the overall numbers to warrant inclusion in the Hall Of Fame.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2013, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty four men on the ballot for the first time this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2013 menu at the top of the page.

In this article, we take a look at Ryan Klesko

Why He Should Get In
Klesko enjoyed a fairly solid run of performance for a few years, but simply could not hold on to it long enough to bolster his career numbers.

Why He Should Not Get In
His career numbers fall remarkably short of typical Cooperstown standards.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

One homerun, 4 RBIs, and a .128 batting average.

Those were Albert Pujols’ numbers during the first two weeks of this season. Heck, he only had 5 hits. By months end, one of the best hitters the baseball has ever known “rebounded” to hit .257 for the month… a far cry from his then .331 career batting average.

Not exactly the start he or Cardinals fans were hoping for.

May was not much better for Albert, who only put up 2 HRs and 13 RBIs. That’s a total he’s nearly eclipsed already just 11 games into the month of September (2 HRs, 12 RBIs, and a .428 Avg. by the way). And that’s exactly the point.

Albert Pujols is still the man.

Has he had his flaws this year? Absolutely. With 15 games to go, there’s a decent chance he’ll tie or break the National League record for groundball double plays in a single season (32 – Miguel Tejada, Pujols has 29). His current batting average of .298 is well below his previous career low of .312 (’10). He slumped so much that teams started pitching to him late in games with the tying run in scoring position and first base open. His intentional walks, in fact, will likely be the lowest since 2004 (yes, teams still pitched to him in ’04. Crazy, I know).

But despite all that, plus a broken wrist and an overwhelming large contract cloud looming over him, he’s still managed to put up these numbers: .298, 35 HRs, 92 RBIs… and there’s still two weeks left. The man is simply absurd.

His value to the Cardinals is undeniable. In the team’s 79 wins, he has driven in 70 RBIs. In the team’s 67 losses… just 22 RBIs.

Many fans will think back on the 2011 season and think Pujols had an “awful” year. By Albert’s incredibly high standards, he truly is having an awful year. But luckily for the Cardinals, and “awful” Pujols means hitting .428 in September, (likely) driving in 100+ Runs, scoring another 100+, and leading the league in homeruns.

Perspective is a funny thing sometimes.

But with perspective in mind, fans have to hope that both the Cardinals’ management and team Pujols have it going into the offseason. Both sides know he was underpaid for 11 years of dominant baseball… putting up over nine-hundred extra-base hits during that span and leading the team to two World Series and one championship. Both sides must also know that the next 8-10 years will not yield that same kind of production unless Pujols goes Barry Bonds on us.

The Cardinals paid $116 million for Pujols’ prime, and he wants $300 million for his decline. It’s a tough situation for everyone involved. Hopefully they can settle things up for a less-than-franchise-crippling amount in the middle… because Cardinals Nation wants him back, and the team needs him back.

He is, after all, still the man.

As the Cardinals playoff hopes wane, fans have cast about for other things to talk about. Most of them center around what the Cardinals will do with their pending free agents. Recently it’s been whether or not Nyjer Morgan is certifiably crazy. There is one remaining on-field area of intrigue, and that’s if Albert Pujols can hit .300 for the season.

Pujols is the only man to start his career with 10 consecutive .300 AVG, 30 HR, 100 RBI seasons. Regardless of your perspective on these traditional statistics, if it can be said ‘Player X is the only player in MLB history to do Y’ that’s pretty special. Several people have tweeted today that Pujols must hit .337 over the remaining 19 games to make .300. Can he do that?

Albert has certainly hit .337 or better for ninteeen-game stretches in his career. For example – in 2001 he hit .337 or better during 75 different 19-game intervals. Yes I did manually count. If it seems like a high number, let me explain. Games 1 through 19 would be one 19-game interval. Games 2-20 would be the second 19-game interval, even though only one game has been replaced by a new game. I kept looking at the games in that way (games 3-21 is interval #3, 4-22 interval #4, and so on) until I ran out of 19-game samples. I did not carry over 19-game intervals from season to season.

Basically Albert hit .337 or better for the first 2 months of 2001, then did it again from July 21 2001 until the end of the season.

This season has been Albert’s most difficult at the plate, and the 19-game intervals I looked at bear that out. Over all the intervals reviewed (it should be 110 unless my math is off), Pujols has only hit .337 or better in eleven. The first inteval ended with the game during which he broke his arm (Interval 56). He did not reach the .337 plateau again until the July 26 – August 14 period (Interval 89).

However, the late surge is why there remains some hope he can do it. Ten of the 11 periods observed occurred after that 26 July game. His most recent hot intervals started with the 10 August game against Milwaukee and ended with the Cincinnati series last weekend. In fact, his best hitting all season has been in progress since the July 24 game at Pittsburgh. Over that 42-game stretch he’s hit .323/.397/.605, with 12 HR and 25 RBI.

The most recent 19-game interval, starting with Game #110 (17 August, again at Pittsburgh) and ending Wednesday night, has seen Pujols hit .328.

Bottom line. He’s hot right now, he’s in a sustained period of good hitting at the moment, and he’s hit .337 or better in ten 19-game intervals since the 24th of July. There’s good reason to think he can get to .300 before the last out of the season.

Mike Moustakas was selected in the 1^st round (No. 2 overall) of the June 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of Chatsworth (Calif.) High School. He is currently playing third base for the Triple-A Omaha Royals in the Pacific Coast League. He is a big kid (5’11” – 230 lbs) with plenty of power and capable of staying at third base. According to Baseball America, he was rated the fourth best prospect in the Royals minor league system.

Moustakas tore up Double-A pitching. He was the Texas League player of the week twice, Mid-Season All-Star, and participated in the Future Stars Games during All-Star week. It was time for him to move on. There was nothing left for Moustakas to prove. Check out his stats below, they tell it all.

On July 15^th, Moustakas was promoted to Triple-A Omaha. At the time of his call-up he was leading the Texas League in home runs and RBI. Since he cruised through Double-A with no problem, the sudden lack of production was a concern. Through 55 at bats he was batting .218 with 10 strikeouts. Moustakas will find a way to turn things around soon. Last weekend series at Memphis, he looked like he has all season. He batted .333 with three home runs and four RBI.

The Royals General Manager Dayton Moore suggests there are no plans on calling up Moustakas in September. The Royals want to give him more time to develop. Since he will not be called up, this tells me he has little chance on making the team next year out of spring training. If Moustakas was in next year’s plan, they would want a preview of what he can do. He will have to give the Royals every reason not to send him down out of spring training. I am positive the Royals are hoping he can be ready and be the opening day starting third baseman in 2011. His only competition is Wilson Betemit and Josh Fields who is currently on the 60 day DL with a hip injury.

If Moustakas doesn’t make the opening day roster, he could be a June call-up. Once he is called up, he will be the third baseman of the future and should be there to stay. With all the power hitting prospects the Royals have, there could be a slight chance he could get moved to the outfield. I would not be surprised if that happens but with the move of Alex Gordon to the outfield, third base is his to lose.

Side Note: Moustakas turns 22 in September. The average age of baseball rookies to make their major league debut is 24 years old.

So I think Moustakas will reach the major leagues June of 2011. What do you think? When will Mike Moustakas reach the major leagues?