Two of the greatest hitters in the period from 2006 to 2010 remain active in the major leagues more than a decade later.
Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera are nearing the end of the line, to be sure. Retirement seems to be imminent for both.
But they can still get the job done. A couple of examples from the current season: Pujols swatted a pair of home runs for the St. Louis Cardinals in their August 14 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, and Cabrera went three-for-three with two runs scored on July 5, as his Detroit Tigers defeated the Cleveland Guardians.
Both players attained greatness with much greater frequency during the half-decade I’m discussing today. Pujols ranked as the best batter in the National League for the period of 2006-2010, while Cabrera finished second in the American League standings (trailing only Alex Rodriguez), based on my study of statistics in six categories.
Pujols won the NL’s Most Valuable Player Award twice during the five-year span (2008 and 2009) and was the runner-up two other years (2006 and 2010). Cabrera didn’t arrive in the AL until December 2007, when he was traded to Detroit by the Florida Marlins, but he immediately won the league’s home-run title with 37 in 2008 — and then set the pace in 2010 with 126 runs batted in.
Another important fact: Neither Pujols nor Cabrera was ever linked with performance-enhancing drugs, something that certainly can’t be said about Rodriguez.
I’ve been looking at batters in consecutive half-decades since June 17, when I started with 1961-1965, the first five-year period in the Modern Era. There are two Friday installments to come: 2011-2015 on August 26 and 2016-2020 on September 2.
The rankings for both leagues are based on my Five-Year Test, which focuses on these six stats:
-
Batting average
-
Slugging average
-
Runs scored per 500 plate appearances
-
Runs batted in per 500 plate appearances
-
Wins above replacement (WAR) per 500 plate appearances
The rankings for 2006-2010 encompassed every batter who crossed the minimum threshold of two plate appearances per game, the equivalent of 1,620 appearances in five 162-game seasons. (Cabrera made 2,017 appearances for the Tigers during his three AL seasons, easily meeting the requirement.)
A total of 101 batters in the American League were eligible for the Five-Year Test for 2006-2010, as were 99 hitters in the National League. The typical AL batter had a five-season batting average of .278 and a .773 ratio of bases per out. The corresponding figures in the NL were .276 and .782.
Josh Hamilton finished third behind Rodriguez and Cabrera in the AL’s 2006-2010 standings. The runners-up after Pujols in the National League were Matt Holliday and Chase Utley.
Scroll below to see my lists of the top 20 batters in each league. Each hitter is followed by a breakdown of his 2006-2010 statistics: games, hits, home runs, batting average, and bases per out. The first three stats weren’t included in the Five-Year Test, yet they’re still worthy of a look.
If you’re interested in my previous rankings, you can follow these links:
A new installment will arrive in your email each Tuesday and Friday morning
-
1. Alex Rodriguez, G 711, H 771, HR 184, BA .293, BPO 1.018
-
2. Miguel Cabrera, G 470, H 558, HR 109, BA .314, BPO .971
-
3. Josh Hamilton, G 378, H 466, HR 74, BA .315, BPO .934
-
4. Joe Mauer, G 670, H 834, HR 66, BA .334, BPO .920
-
5. David Ortiz, G 704, H 721, HR 172, BA .279, BPO .991
-
6. Evan Longoria, G 430, H 455, HR 82, BA .283, BPO .894
-
7. Jim Thome, G 637, H 547, HR 159, BA .267, BPO 1.017
-
8. Kevin Youkilis, G 675, H 740, HR 104, BA .297, BPO .949
-
9. Mark Teixeira, G 608, H 663, HR 131, BA .286, BPO .943
-
10. Manny Ramirez, G 387, H 414, HR 76, BA .303, BPO .989
-
11. Justin Morneau, G 693, H 778, HR 136, BA .298, BPO .903
-
12. Shin-Soo Choo, G 449, H 487, HR 59, BA .300, BPO .943
-
13. Vladimir Guerrero, G 701, H 841, HR 131, BA .312, BPO .856
-
14. Magglio Ordonez, G 673, H 813, HR 94, BA .320, BPO .849
-
15. Robinson Cano, G 762, H 920, HR 102, BA .311, BPO .781
-
16. Carlos Pena, G 584, H 470, HR 145, BA .239, BPO .944
-
17. Carl Crawford, G 713, H 857, HR 71, BA .303, BPO .858
-
18. Ian Kinsler, G 618, H 668, HR 92, BA .281, BPO .848
-
19. Dustin Pedroia, G 556, H 667, HR 54, BA .305, BPO .826
-
20. Jorge Posada, G 569, H 549, HR 86, BA .288, BPO .889
-
1. Albert Pujols, G 768, H 918, HR 207, BA .330, BPO 1.171
-
2. Matt Holliday, G 673, H 854, HR 136, BA .327, BPO 1.014
-
3. Chase Utley, G 722, H 834, HR 134, BA .299, BPO .981
-
4. Chipper Jones, G 610, H 679, HR 105, BA .313, BPO 1.008
-
5. Joey Votto, G 456, H 511, HR 90, BA .314, BPO 1.017
-
6. Ryan Braun, G 579, H 711, HR 128, BA .307, BPO .935
-
7. Carlos Beltran, G 590, H 621, HR 118, BA .283, BPO .965
-
8. Hanley Ramirez, G 758, H 934, HR 124, BA .313, BPO .981
-
9. Ryan Howard, G 768, H 801, HR 229, BA .278, BPO .991
-
10. David Wright, G 775, H 896, HR 128, BA .305, BPO .952
-
11. Lance Berkman, G 685, H 697, HR 146, BA .289, BPO 1.009
-
12. Jayson Werth, G 543, H 507, HR 95, BA .282, BPO .956
-
13. Troy Tulowitzki, G 554, H 608, HR 92, BA .290, BPO .842
-
14. Aramis Ramirez, G 644, H 699, HR 131, BA .288, BPO .860
-
15. Adrian Gonzalez, G 799, H 856, HR 161, BA .288, BPO .884
-
16. Prince Fielder, G 797, H 809, HR 190, BA .279, BPO .969
-
17. Scott Rolen, G 427, H 429, HR 53, BA .282, BPO .808
-
18. Ryan Zimmerman, G 724, H 810, HR 116, BA .286, BPO .801
-
19. Derrek Lee, G 644, H 716, HR 104, BA .293, BPO .853
-
20. Brian McCann, G 695, H 702, HR 107, BA .290, BPO .835
