What If Pujols...

[kaldaniels]

Originally Posted by MikeThierry

sigh.. you are putting words in my mouth. I never objected to saying Bench was the greatest at his position, I just don't think it is as close and shut case as Reds fans make it out to be. I think an argument for Ivan can be made. That was my only point. As much as a homer I am for the Cards, Pujols is not the greatest 1st baseman of all time, yet. That still belongs to Lou Gehrig and it will take quite an achievement from Pujols to surpass him.

Also, I never said that Pujols isn't declining. I was mainly disputing the Griffey comparison as the gold standard to judge a player in his 30's and there might be several other factors to why he is having an unusually down season. He might be declining, he might not be. I'm reserving judgment on that until at least next year when the contract talks have subsided and if he has another "down" year next year. Never said he wasn't declining though.

Hey Mike. Sorry if I tweaked a nerve with you there. I was trying to make a joke in that the first point I read from you in a while managed to (please don't dissect my words here) question Bench's greatness to a degree and attempt to rule out Pujols' decline. It wasn't a positive statement for Bench for sure, and it wasn't a negative one for Pujols. My beerme symbol was meant to show the lightheartness, but that failed. Sorry.