I mean seriously, I must be jinxed or something crazy. It seems every time I get really amped up about a pitcher, or start following a player seriously, they either go into a slump, or their robust career seems to derail. Case in point, days after I post an article mentioning how I can’t sleep cause Jair Jurrjens is pitching so well for the Braves, he goes and gives up 4 runs in 2 2/3 innings today vs the Astros and his command goes to pot as he surrendered 4 base on balls. then again, I should be used to this by now. When I started following Eric Gagne intently, in 2004, what does he do? His 84 consecutive saves streak comes to an end later that season, and he goes and gets injured seriously in spring training in 05, only to never really pitch for the Dodgers again and recover (as of yet) his former dominant self. Jake Peavy too, was a guy who I really picked up on in 2005, only for him to struggle mightily in 2006. Now you could say that this isn’t a long term thing with Peavy, as evidenced by his Cy Young season in 07. But I paid less attention to Peavy in 07 than I did in 06. In 06, I watched condensed games of everyone of Peavy’s starts. Not so in 07. And what does he do? Only go out and win the **** pitchers triple crown! Still, i’m not worried. I’m hoping to get out to San Diego in September and actually see Jake in person. If I do actually get that far, I’ll make sure i get a Peavy jersey regardless! I’m not afraid!
Oh and on a side note…did anyone see Roy Oswalt’s 6 no hit innings today vs the Braves? With no walks too I may add. I do believe that the presence of an error rebuked the perfect game, and yea it’s spring so there;’s no chance of it being completed by Oswalt anyway, but it sure as **** is nice just to see a bunch of 0′s in the boxscore. I’d love for there to be a perfect game this year. why the **** not. it gets everyone excited. i love it.

Every one has their favourite players. when you read the box scores in the paper the next day, or on mlb.com, you’re not just looking for your team’s scores. You’ve checked the pitching probables from that days games, know which ones to look for, and do it. Or you’re checking on your favourite hitter etc. You know how it goes. For me, it’s turning out something like this:

• Check the Tigers score – from which my favourite Verlander, Zumaya, Granderson, Bonderman will get most attention
• Check out Jake Peavy – if he’s starting, usually resulting in me either watching the condensed game of his start or the whole thing if i have time, or of course if i can watch it live, i will
• Eric Gagne – usually results in me watching his inning of work
• Albert Pujols – truly one of  a kind, i always will be checking Cardinals box scores just for his name

• Any other hot rookies/favourite/upcoming players who get me excited about the game – see guys like cole hamels, tim lincecum, j.j putz, troy tulowitzki, etc. As i tend to favour pitchers more than hitters, i love new flamethrowers. Just prospects in general make me go nuts!

here i’m gonna briefly focus on Pujols, who I truly believe will be in the record books in some amazing capacity. I was thinking the other day, how the **** does Pujols not hit .400 with his ability? This guy’s incredible. And when you think that he’s already hit 282 homers and he’s just 28, it’s insane what he;s accomplished. He’s won an NL MVP award (2005), Rookie of the year award (2001), a World Series (2006), the youngest player ever to reach 250 homers, the first player ever to hit 30 homers in each of his first 6 seasons. The list goes on and on. And here’s some more for you. In the duration of his young career (2001-2007), Pujols has the most extra base hits with 593, and has the most total bases in the bigs during that time. He’s also clubbed the 2nd most home runs behind A-Rod, and is 2nd in RBI’s  and runs also to A-Rod, along with being 4th in hits, 2nd in batting average and doubles. If Pujols keeps up this pace, it’s amazing to think what he can accomplish. 3000 hits are definitely on his radar, as are 600, maybe 700+ home runs, 2000 RBI’s? A .350 lifetime batting average? 2000 runs? It’s got hall of fame written all over it. And you can add a gold glove to Pujols’ resume as well, won at first in 2006. What some people might have forgotten is that Pujols didn’t start out at first base in his career. In fact, when he entered the league, Pujols was primary posted at Third base, and spent time in the outfield too. Only since 2004 on has he been stationed at first full time.

Another amazing thing I found out about Pujols this offseason was that he was injured for a portion of last year, struggling through pain in his elbow ligament since 2003!!! Pujols still managed to become the first player in mlb history to begin a career with 7 straight seasons of .300+ batting average, 30+ homers and 100+ Rbi’s. To me, I find this outstanding. Pujols has declared he is healthy for the upcoming season, and the Cards will need a huge year from him. If and when you get the
chance, just stop and watch Pujols hit. If you have mlb.tv or extra innings or whatever and your team is between innings, switch to the Cardinals game and just watch the guy hit. I’m awestruck everytime I do. If given the chance, I’d just go and watch Pujols take batting practice. he has to have the greatest swing I’ve ever seen. (now i’m only 20, and my knowledge goes back as far as 1999, but still) Keep and eye out on Pujols, cause I will definitely be doing all i can to keep on top of him!