Monday Milestone

Albert Pujols' RBI single in Monday night's Angels-Astros game made history. The 2087th run he's driven in over his 20 year career moved him past Alex Rodriguez on the game's all time list -- he's now second only to Henry Aaron in that still vital statistic.

While no longer the offensive force during his prime with the Cardinals, the best 13th round draft pick in history remains a solid run producer. Pro-rate his 12 RBI in 80 plate appearances to a typical year where he'd come to the plate 600 times -- and Albert would be on target for 90 RBIs. That's no fluke.

But is Pujols really second alltime? That's where a quirk in "official" stats comes into play. As I noted in May 2019 when Pujols reached 2000 RBI, "Because Runs Batted In didn't become an official statistic until 1920, the 224 runs Babe Ruth drove in during the first six years of his career (1914-'19) don't 'count.'  That leaves the Bambino with 1992 official RBIs, 2214 otherwise, still second all-time to Aaron."

Doesn't it seem silly, that an accomplishment verified by newspapers and official box scores of the time is not deemed official? We're not talking about redefining "saves" from a time when relief pitchers were mop-up guys and not hurlers needed to close out a victory. It's about time the barrier discrediting pre-1920 RBIs be erased. Let's be real, a run Ruth (or anyone) drove in during a 1919 or 1916 game is just as legitimate as one from 1920 forward.

While there are changes that really alter the nature of baseball -- from seven-inning games in doubleheaders to a three-batter minimum for relievers -- there's really no excuse not to credit players for true accomplishments.