After Game 3 of this year’s Series, there will definitely be a million and one posts – mostly from Cardinals fans – declaring how great Albert Pujols is.

Pujols’ three-homer night ranks with the greatest World Series performances of all time and, truthfully, fans of the game have been awaiting a signature moment like this in the slugger’s career.

Well, he delivered.

The St. Louis’ first baseman has had a stunning career that has been nothing short of phenomenal. But the greatest asset that has assured Pujlos’ entry into Cooperstown has been his uncanny consistency. Thanks to baseball-reference.com, a quick glance at his stats reveal that he has been the most dominant hitter throughout the entire decade.

He’s been given the nickname “The Machine,” and with plenty of justification. Phat Albert has hit no less than .299 (this past year), no fewer than 32 home runs (2007) or 99 runs batted in (this year). In fact, his 162-game average is quite startling to behold:

.328 batting average
42 home runs
126 runs batted in
43 doubles
.617 slugging percentage

An easy call for the Hall of Fame just got a lot easier. Having a night like he did on baseball’s biggest stage cements his case as one of the game’s best.

But his grand evening brings to light another hypothesis: Pujols could very well be regarded as the game’s best right-handed hitter of all time.

The game’s very best, legendary hitters have generally come from the left side of home plate, and with good reason. Historically, most of baseball’s pitchers are right-handers, and that lends itself to the unsaid advantage that left handers have. Atop the list of greatness includes names like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig and Stan Musial – who all happen to be left handed batters. In particular, Ruth, Gehrig and Musial combined averages that were consistently above .300 with considerable power numbers.

Pujols has his work cut out for him against the Rangers.

So, while we can’t distinctly pronounce that Pujols is the greatest hitter of all time, we would be within our rights to suggest that he may be the best handicapped (i.e., right-handed) hitter in history. His consistent combination of power and average haven’t been seen from righties.

Now we all saw that Pujols’ swing-and-miss strikeout in the ninth inning of Game 5, but opponents limit his comfort at the plate by preventing him from getting into any rhythm. The Cardinals slugger was intentional walked three times last night, adding to his career-leading mark of 251 (IBBs have been tracked since 1955). Add to the fact that Pujols has not had any continuous protection around him, and it can be quickly confirmed that his dominance has been even more impressive than many realize.

Pujols’ next challenge? His team is currently mired in a 3-2 World Series deficit against the Rangers. It’s a lead that was achieved in part – after his historic Game 3 – by refusing to give Pujols any semblance of good pitches to hit.

Can Pujols lead his team to two straight World Series game victories without getting any pitches to hit?

If so, he’ll have to do it without getting hits. And consequently, Phat Albert’s legendary status would grow even phatter.

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