The guy on the right achieves greatness the right way

With Mark McGwire back in the news I've been thinking about Major League Baseball and how tarnished the sport's reputation has become with several of its record-breaking superstar sluggers using banned substances to achieve greatness.

McGwire hit 49 home runs as a rookie. We all had his Topps All-Star Rookie card. Some of us maybe even had a green Athletics jersey. Oakland went on to win the World Series that year, the year of the San Francisco earthquake.

1990 was a memorable year for me. I remember going to a day-night doubleheader at old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Tribe vs. A's. July 6. Bash Brothers in full-force! It was during the first of two games when the Athletics hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs. It was Rickey Henderson, Carney Lansford, Jose Canseco and McGwire. They hit seven home runs as a team that day, winning by a score of 12-1. Oakland went on to another World Series that year, but lost to Cincinnati. Big Mac his 32 dingers that year.

Then he hit 33, 39, 22 and 42 home runs in his next four seasons. These were all seasons he played in his 20s. Then he was injured. When he was 29, he hit 9 HRs. When he was 30, he hit 9 HRs again, battling injuries.

During those two injury-riddled seasons, McGwire gradually began packing on weight in the form of muscle, similar to the way Barry Bonds did it. McGwire was 6'3", 220 lbs. for much of his playing days throughout his 20s. In the 1995 season, when McGwire reported to spring training he was listed as 6'3", 258 lbs. He was 31. He hit 39 HRs that year.

When McGwire was 32, he hit 52 HRs. At 33, he hit 58. At age 34, he hit 70. At age 35, he hit 65. At age 36, he hit 32. And during his final season, McGwire (at age 37) hit 29 HRs.

It was during that final season that the city of St. Louis saw a changing of the guard. McGwire was on his way out and he had a new teammate named Albert Pujols who was on his way in.

In 2001, Pujols came into spring training listed at 6'3" (just like McGwire), but weighed only 210 lbs. (38 pounds lighter than McGwire). He was only 21 years old.

At this point McGwire was deeply-rooted in steroids and human-growth hormone. On the other hand, Pujols had never even thought about taking performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).

The list of baseball greats who have admittedly used, or have been otherwise linked to using, PEDs is sickening. Names like Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire could have been baseball heroes. Immortals. Instead, they now leave tarnished legacies.

Several other players saw a two-to-three season surge in their power numbers. Players like Luis Gonzalez and Brady Anderson come to mind.

I started thinking about which players who have used PEDs would have accomplished Hall of Fame worthy numbers had they never used. Bonds, Ramierez and Rodriguez probably would have. However, when you start talking hypotheticals you are essentially guessing.

So then I wondered which players from the "Steroids Era," which according to Dan Patrick dates from 1994-present, have compiled Hall of Fame careers while playing the national past-time clean and honest.

Derek Jeter has, but then again he has never really been a power threat, which is what steroids have been all about. I wanted to know which player(s) have hung in there with the 'roid boys without ever cheating the game.

Ryan Howard has. So has Ken Griffey Jr.

But one name sticks out more than those two - a clean slugger who has hit for power and average, and whose numbers are comparable to other players who have reaped the benefits of enhancing their bodies through use of PEDs. I believe this name stands out more because this one player in particular has been cheated out of several individuals honors by players who were allegedly cheating.

This player was selected in the 13th round of the 1999 amateur draft by the St. Louis Cardinals ... and his name is Albert Pujols.

As previously stated, Pujols made his MLB debut in 2001, which happened to be McGwire's final season. Pujols missed one game that year, batted .329 with 37 home runs, 130 RBIs and 112 runs scored. That year he finished fourth in the National League Most Valuable Player (NL MVP) award voting.

Here is what Pujols has done since then:

2002 - missed 5 games, hit .314, 34 HR, 127 RBI, 118 R.

- Finished 2nd in the NL MVP.

2003 - missed 5 games, hit .359, 43 HR, 124 RBI, 137 R.

- Finished 2nd in the NL MVP.

2004 - missed 8 games, hit .331, 46 HR, 123 RBI, 133 R.

- Finished 3rd in the NL MVP.

2005 - missed 1 game, hit .330, 41 HR, 117 RBI, 129 R.

- Won his 1st MVP.

2006 - missed 19 games, hit .331, 49 HR, 137 RBI, 119 R.

- Finished 2nd in the NL MVP.

2007 - missed 4 games, hit .327, 32 HR, 103 RBI, 99 R.

- Finished 9th in the NL MVP.

2008 - missed 14 games, hit .357, 37 HR, 116 RBI, 100 R.

- Won his 2nd MVP.

2009 - missed 2 games, hit .327, 47 HR, 135 RBI, 124 R.

- Won his 3rd MVP.

In this nine-season span, Pujols played in 96 percent of his team's games and has amassed a career batting average of .334 with 366 home runs, 1,112 runs batted in, 1,071 runs scored and three NL MVP awards. He won one batting title, led the league in homers and hits once, led the league in runs scored and total bases four times, and led the league in slugging percentage and OPS three times. He has been elected to eight All-Star teams, has been awarded five Silver Slugger awards and one Gold Glove award. Oh yeah, and he was chosen as the 2001 NL Rookie of the Year.

That's quite a list of accomplishments for a player who has yet to play a game in his 30s.

But my jaw dropped when I considered that Pujols has played for nine seasons, won the NL MVP three times, and finished second, third or fourth a total of five times.

Here is a slugger who has racked up Hall of Fame-type numbers during the steroids era, without ever using steroids or other PEDs. And four out of the five times Pujols did not bring home an MVP, the recipients of the award were shady MLB characters with bulging biceps.

In 2001, when Pujols was 4th in the MVP voting, the Nos. 1-3 players were Bonds, Sosa and Gonzalez. Bonds and Sosa have been linked to PEDs, and I should note that Gonzalez set a career high in home runs and RBIs that year, at the age of 33. Gonzalez hit more than 30 HRs in a single-season only one other time (in 2000) during his 19-year career. So his 2001 season is questionable. Too big a jump in the power numbers for such a small guy. Take the 2001 NL MVP award away from Bonds, skip over Sosa and Gonzalez, and give it to Pujols (making it MVP #4 for him).

In 2002, Pujols finished 2nd to Bonds. Take it away from Bonds and give it to Pujols (MVP #5).

In 2003, same story for Pujols, finishing 2nd to Bonds. Give it to Albert! (MVP #6).

In 2004, Pujols finished 3rd behind Bonds and Adrian Beltre. Beltre had 48 dingers and 121 RBI. The 48 HR was the only time in Beltre's 12 MLB seasons that he's hit more than 26 HR. And the 121 RBI was the only time he ever eclipsed 100. Questionable! Take it away from Bonds, skip Beltre (who has been linked) and give it to its rightful owner: Pujols (MVP #7).

In 2006, Pujols finished 2nd to Ryan Howard. Howard has never been linked to PEDs. This was a legit 2nd place showing for Pujols.

In 2007, Pujols finished 9th. Every player Nos. 1-8 seem to be legit. They were (in order) Jimmy Rollins, Matt Holliday, Prince Fielder, David Wright, Ryan Howard, Chipper Jones, Jake Peavy and Chase Utley.

To recap, in Pujols' nine-year MLB career, he's been awarded the NL MVP three times, but he should've been the recipient of that award four more times, giving him a total of seven MVPs in nine years.

But apparently Pujols doesn't mind. He's all about hard work and practice and doesn't care much for individual accolades. In fact, his message for his 2009 Sports Illustrated cover story was "Don't be afraid to believe in me."

Despite that, many people still are. And how can you blame them. As soon as one baseball hero gets his reputation tarnished, we collectively move on to the next one, only to be disappointed again. A perfect example of this was the shift from Mark McGwire as baseball's savior to Barry Bonds ... and then from Barry Bonds to Alex Rodriguez ... and so on. But Pujols doesn't care if he is known for being a great baseball player, like so many others do. He also says there is no reason for him to take PEDs.

In the SI article, he stated, "You know how I want people to remember me? I don't want to be remembered as the best baseball player ever. I want to be remembered as a great guy who loved the Lord, loved to serve the community and who gave back. That's the guy I want to be remembered as when I'm done wearing this uniform. That's from the bottom of my heart."

And now that McGwire is the St. Louis Cardinals hitting coach, if at some point Pujols even remotely considers enhancing his on-field performance illegally, the older, wiser Big Mac will be there in the locker room as a reminder of how quickly one can go from being a hero to being a villain.

And right now, Albert Pujols is one baseball great who I'm not afraid to believe in.