MVP Pujols is on a direct path to Cooperstown

St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols is the National League Most Valuable Player for a second time, edging out Philadelphia's Ryan Howard after another superb season.

Pujols was the pillar in the middle of a Cardinals team that wasn't supposed to contend, but hung around in the NL Central race into September. He hit .357 (second in the NL) with 32 homers and 116 RBI, was first in total bases and had the best OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging) of his career at 1.114.

There's no doubt that Pujols' resume already is something special, one that is almost inevitably heading to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Pujols has finished fourth or better in MVP voting an incredible seven times in his eight big-league seasons. (He was ninth in an 2007, when he only hit .327 with 32 homers.)

And he's now one of only 11 players who have won multiple MVPs in the NL. Eight of them (Carl Hubbell, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Willie Mays, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt) are already in the Hall of Fame. Another has the statistics to get there for sure (Barry Bonds). Only Dale Murphy, whose career flamed out early, isn't likely to make the Hall.

(It's incredible to believe that Hank Aaron only won one MVP award, by the way, but that's the case. It shows that after the color barrier was broken to get on the baseball field, there were still many others to clear.)

Pujols is still just 28, and will turn 29 in January. Baseball-reference.com compares batters at similar stages in their careers, and those compared to Pujols are Jimmie Foxx, Aaron, Frank Robinson, Lou Gehrig and Ken Griffey Jr.

St. Louis fans are enjoying seeing one of the greatest hitters of all time, no doubt about it.

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