Pujols can handle the snubs, not hitless days

ST. LOUIS -- Albert Pujols can take getting snubbed by Barry Bonds, and by fans in the All-Star game balloting.

What he can't take is 0-fers.

Nearing the All-Star break, the Cardinals' star has Triple Crown numbers, leading the majors with a .377 average and ranking among the National League leaders in home runs and RBIs. He was the NL player of the month for May and June, a clear indication of his dominance.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his play, though, has to do with his remarkable consistency. He's never gone without a hit for more than two starts.

Pujols' lengthiest slump all season is 0-for-13. In the 13 games following his rare hitless games, he's 21-for-53 with six homers and 17 RBIs.

"It's all part of my routine," Pujols said. "It's not that I try harder because I didn't get any hits, or anything like that.

"You just try to stay consistent. I just try to concentrate on every at-bat."

It's that determination that has prompted manager Tony La Russa to label the 23-year-old Pujols, in only his third season, the best player he's ever managed.

La Russa even took it a step further, calling Pujols -- the NL rookie of the year in 2001 and the MVP runner-up to Bonds last year -- the best player ever at the start of his career.

"I say Albert has been better than anybody, including Barry, for 2 1/2 years," the manager said. "Players like Bonds, who have been great for all those years, that's a different category, but according to historical fact neither Barry nor anybody else has had 2 1/2 years like Albert Pujols, and nobody is going to take that away from him."

Bonds doesn't seem impressed. In a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, he was somewhat critical of Pujols' scintillating start.

Bonds said Pujols is not the next Bonds because he doesn't have speed on the basepaths and has played several positions with the Cardinals.

He said Pujols reminded him more of Bobby Bonilla, a good but not great former teammate in Pittsburgh, and added that Pujols needs to do a lot more to prove he belongs among the game's greats.

"If Pujols plays for a long period of time, he definitely has a chance to do some wonderful things in this game of baseball because he has the ability," Bonds told the Chronicle. "It's just time that dictates what happens."

Pujols just shrugs it off. He's not worried about proving himself to Bonds, or anybody else.

"I heard something about it, but hey, whatever he said it's not in my mind," Pujols said. "I don't care what he says or what other people say, I just try to concentrate."

Giants manager Felipe Alou wasn't sure how his pitchers held Pujols hitless in 12 straight at-bats before he singled in the eighth inning Wednesday night. He hit a three-run homer the next day in the final game of the four-game series.

"There's no one pattern for pitching to that guy to get him out," Alou said. "You hope he misses."

At first, La Russa used Pujols at first base, third base, left field and right field, constantly shuttling him about, but he's now settled in at left field.

La Russa said the fact Pujols was so productive while moving around only enhances his resume.

He's the only player in major league history to hit .300 with 30 homers, 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored in each of his first two seasons, and he is well on his way to making it three in a row.

"Most people would tell you they like to play one defensive position because it kind of helps their hitting," La Russa said. "I think that's part of why I call him the best I've been around."

The lack of a long-term contract doesn't appear to have affected Pujols' mind-set. The Cardinals signed him to a $900,000 deal this year and he's eligible for arbitration next spring, but the really big money is still a ways away.

Worried? Nope. Pujols batted .429 in June with eight homers and 29 RBIs, and he's always been a team-first player.

"He's gotten clutch hit after clutch hit and after clutch hit, and he's made clutch plays, and he's doing it for the right reasons," La Russa said. "He's a guy without money and he's starting to make a little money and he hasn't changed."

Pujols, who is married with two children, also doesn't look too bad in his uniform, his manager added.

"I think he's absolutely beautiful. If I was a woman, I'd go for him so fast it would make his head spin," he said.

All of this, and Pujols was fourth in the NL outfield balloting behind Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Gary Sheffield as the voting ended. The reserves will be added today, and La Russa was hoping Pujols would get a start as the designated hitter as a consolation prize.

Again, Pujols says all the right things.

"If I get picked to go as a backup, I'll be excited to be there," Pujols said. "I had a great time when I went there my first year and if I go this year, it's going to be just as exciting."