Originally posted by Rondec A number of guys come to mind who could hit like anybody's business but were unwilling to work out enough to stay Cecil Fielder and Kevin Mitchell come to mind.
Kevin Mitchell had a couple of years playing for the Reds. He sure could hit, but there was no DH in the NL at that point and he didn't take care of himself at all. Of course, he also showed up late to spring training one year in the 90s because he injured himself on a microwaved donut.
By most standards Pujols has kept himself in decent enough shape. You have to remember that he is 42 years old. Players who aren't using steroids tend to begin racking up the injuries in their late 40s. Ken Griffey Jr. had a pretty typical career for someone who wasn't using performance enhancers and really tailed off by the time he hit his mid 30s.
I agree that Pujols looks pretty good for a big 42 year old man. However, 6 years ago he was rather... portly:
He's dropped some weight recently, but we might be talking about his pursuit of 800 HR's if he had taken proper care of himself throughout his 30's. Not to mention his under-performance as an Angel.
An orthopedic surgeon once told be that for every pound of weight a person loses, they reduce pressure on their knees by 4-5 lbs.
BTW, I'm 6'1" and 192 lbs, and I should definitely drop 20.