October 13, 2006
Albert Gets Testy
Albert Pujols didn't appreciate reporters pointing out his performance last night, and tried to bring down Tom Glavine:
A peeved Pujols snapped at reporters following his 0-for-3 outing that included a costly baserunning blunder in the Mets' 2-0 Game 1 win, claiming that Glavine wasn't fooling any of the St. Louis hitters and that the NL Central champs should have lit up the lefty.
"He wasn't good. He wasn't good at all," Pujols said of Glavine, who threw seven innings of four-hit ball for the victory. "I think we hit the ball hard, we didn't get some breaks.
"I say he wasn't good at all. We just didn't get some opportunities and that's it. . . . (Glavine did the) same thing that he always does. Throw a changeup, fastball and that was it. I just think we should've done a better job than we did."
Pujols is basically right, but when you go 0 for 3 and make a base running blunder, you shouldn't be denigrating the opposing pitcher who shut out your team for seven innings. Albert always seemed classier than that to me.
Not to me. Earlier this year, did he not complain about someone on the other team watching a homerun, ya know, the way he always does?
Plus, didn't he also basically say that people should just leave poor Barry Bonds alone and stop asking so many impertinent questions?
Yeah, Poo Holes, Glavine did the same thing he always does. The same thing that's won him 290 regular season and 14 postseason games.
Yup, mikeski, you're right. Glavine did the same thing he's always done: He got calls that were legitimately 6-7 inches off the plate and had the defense save his ass three or four times. Hardly a stellar outing.
Hey Ben, maybe you weren't paying close enough attention, because Weaver was getting the exact same calls Glavine was. The home plate umpire was calling anything off the outside a strike. I even had to agree with Tim McCarver once when he said that on FOX.
God, I feel like washing my hands for the next hour after typing that sentence.
i fear the humble/classy pujols is gradually becoming a thing of the past as he continues to buy the best player ever bit. it seems the post-HR bat flip and smug stare down have become standard operating procedure, and i should hope the postgame tearing down an opposing pitcher who just shut him down is not added to the list.
as a stros fan i may be biased, but as a baseball fan i want to like a player that talented, and he is making it much harder with the arrogant antics.
In fact, Righty, I'd go further and say that it looked to me like Weaver was getting calls that Glavine wasn't.
I've been really puzzled by soem of the balls & strikes called during the playoffs this year. Every umpire seems to be working with their own definition of the strike zone; it's like the pre-Questec days.
I agree, Adam. It seems like inconsistence is the one constant, regardless of who is working the plate. Prince Albert just put a big bulleye's on his back, wonder which team benefits?
Should he have given Glavine some credit? Yes.
Was Glainve great last night? No.
The Cards hacked away all night and didn't force Glaivine to throw strikes, which was very frustrating because Glavine clearly didn't have great control last night. Given pitched all right. The Cards poor plate dicisplin made him look teriffic, and Albert knows that.
If the swipe at Glavine sounds familiar it's because Pujols had similar comments about Chris Young in the NLDS:
"He's not difficult at all,'' grumbled Pujols. "He's just a pitcher, like everyone else.''
As for admiring home runs, he's easily got to be one of the worst offenders in the league. Don't even get me started on him showing up the plate umpire when a call goes against him.
I agree, Jon. But you did not hear Glavine say, "They not a very good team, very little plate discipline. Only one real hitter, and he gets himself out on the bases." Much as I hate headhunters like Clemens, or Randy and Pedro when they were in the AL this clown needs to get knocked on his ass.