Calvin Borel couldn't do it but what about Albert Pujols?

In the midst of another loss at Busch Stadium Tuesday night, Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols drilled two more home runs into the seats off 303-game winner Randy Johnson. 

It was all the offense the Redbirds could muster, and all they have managed in two games against the visiting Giants, but Pujols doesn't miss too many pitches.

In a line-up that is painfully lacking any punch number 5 is threatening to do something the senior circuit hasn't seen since Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific.

Since 1900 the NL has had just four triple crown seasons (by three different players). 

Rogers Hornsby (STL) 1922 .401-42 HR-152 RBI and 1925 .403-39 HR-143 RBI

Chuck Klein (PHI) 1933 .368-28 HR-120 RBI

Joe Medwick (STL) 1937 .374-31 HR-154 RBI

(Baseball-Reference.com)

Through 79 games Pujols leads the NL with 30 homers (six more than Adrian Gonzalez) and 77 RBI's (three more than Prince Fielder and 17 more than the third place man Ryan Howard).

He trails the NL batting leader David Wright by 13 points (.345 to .332) and is currently tied for fifth in that category. 

Pujols, a career .334 hitter, finished second in the NL in hitting in 2008 after slugging his way to a .357 clip. 

He has one batting title to his name already when his .359 was tops in 2003 and since he has hit under .330 just once in a season. 

He has failed to win the NL home run crown but the steroid era is largely to blame for that. Pujols has never smacked 50 homers in a season but with 30 already before July 1st that barrier should be reachable.

With his homers tonight he became the first player in baseball history to start his career with 9-straight 30-homer seasons, so there is no doubt A-Pu can stroke the long ball. 

From 2003-2006 he was in the top-5 in dingers in the NL each year including his high water mark of 49 in 2006. Most importantly he seems to have found his longball groove and has a sizable lead in that area.

He has never led the NL in RBI's but has finished in the top-5 in every season but one (2007). He was second in 2002 and 2006, third in 2004 and 2005 and fourth in 2003 and 2008.

So the potential to win that category is there but that may also be his biggest downfall. 

Pujols doesn't need his teammates to help him hit or smack home runs but he does need them to be on base if he wants to have the most RBI's. 

The Cardinals just dealt for utility infielder Mark DeRosa. It will be up to him and a cast of other guys like Ryan Ludwick, Rick Ankiel and Chris Duncan to start producing then the rest will be up to Albert.

Tomorrow is just July 1, so there is a lot of baseball left to play but with another torrid start and a definite power surge Pujols has set the stage for what could be a historic summer in America's heartland.

U.S. win over Spain a fabulous result, not "Miracle 2"

The hockey team from the Soviet Union was big, bad and seemed impossible to beat.

So too did the Spanish side seem insurmountable in the days leading up to Wednesday's semifinal match in the 2009 Confederations Cup.

Both had illustrious track records and long streaks of supremacy, but the similarities fail to extend much further. 

For the U.S. men's soccer team to steal a 2-0 win from the best team in the world after looking overmatched and lost just a week before it was a stunning victory and one of the top five biggest moments in the history of the sport in our country.

It was not, however close to the magnitude of the 4-3 win from the U.S. Olympic hockey team in Lake Placid almost three decades before.

First, that was the Olympics while this tournament is second fiddle to next summer's World Cup. 

Second, those were amateurs toppling the mighty Soviet machine while the soccer team we are throwing out there is nearly complete with all of our best professional talent minus a few missing in action due to injury.

And most importantly the social, cultural, political and historical impact of that game was enormous considering the backdrop of the Cold War.

Most Americans only knew the U.S. beat Spain when they saw it on Sportscenter that evening. 

The ramifications were far less, the patriotism attached to it of a far less shriller tone.

The win was significant and another Sunday morning would really put the soccer world on notice.

But it will be on the grandest stage in South Africa a year from now when the U.S. returns for the World Cup that their biggest opportunity to seize glory will emerge.

For now their shocking turnaround has at the very least thrust them into the spotlight for a short while.

Brazil represents a stern test for the U.S. squad but win or lose they have made important steps in the right direction.

A strong performance against the Samba can catapult the red, white and blue into important tune-up games in the Gold Cup and in Concacaf qualifying that will set them up for World Cup play.

The "miracle on grass" as it has been dubbed was a remarkable effort and one that shouldn't be soon forgotten but in an age of "what has google showed me lately?" let's not forget what that win in 1980 meant for this country and hope that someday, as this soccer team vows to reach the world's elite, they can in someway rival it.

For now we'll take Wednesday's win as a day when a team that really wanted it showed they could take it and hope the valiant Americans have more of that in store for the next 12 months. 

Big win for USA soccer, the goal differential system is fine

First off, great win today for the U.S. men's soccer team. 

I know Egypt was missing key players, and emotionally spent after upsetting the reigning world champion Azzuri. 

But the U.S. got the performance it needed and most importantly help from Brazil (3-0 win over Italy) that makes the win truly mean something.

By advancing in the group, the struggling national team gets two more games on foreign soil against quality opponents. That's the real victory.

Assuming a loss to the best team in the world, Spain on Wednesday, the red, white and blue should get South Africa (the host country) in a third-place game.

For a squad desperately trying to find an identity with less than a year to go before returning to the motherland for the World Cup these games are invaluable to their improvement. 

They may get blown out by Spain but these games give coach Bob Bradley more opportunities to scout his players and figure out his eventual Cup roster.

****

Many of the talking heads blasted the system that allows the U.S. to go through over Italy despite losing to them.

But in a three-way tie where each team is 1-2 there has to be another tiebreaker. 

Don't these same critical pundits remember the Big 12 tiebreaker this past college football season?

Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas all finished with 7-1 in the Big 12 South. Each was 1-1 against the other two. 

Since there was no clear way to determine who should be awarded divisional champion and a chance to play in the Big 12 championship game the conference had made the next tiebreaker the teams BCS rank.

The Big 12 was killed for pandering to the BCS by making their voting system the next determining factor - and having a game that featured Missouri and Oklahoma - two teams that Texas had both beat.

So in an equal situation - a three-way tie - where each team has lost once and won once against the said opposition - FIFA goes to goal differential.

What else would you do? At least they let it be decided on the field and not by some herky-jerky combination of computer calculations and biased voters.

Let's think these things through before we blast the people who have done just that.

Coming to you live in HD, it's hockey!

The NHL season is done, and congrats to the Penguins on winning the Cup, they sure looked dead in February.

But the NHL has one big thing going for it as we move forward and I think the ratings from the Stanley Cup finals reflect that.

Game 7, the best drama in all of sports, was the highest rated hockey game in thirty-six years. 

There's a few reasons for that other than the point I'm about to make.

You had people tuning in to see Sidney Crosby. Sid the Kid is not even the best player on his own team but the young superstar has been hyped up so much that he is as must-see as anyone not named Ovechkin can be in this league. 

Tack on the rematch factor, the history of these two teams and of course the intrigue of a Game 7 and you have a ratings bonanza.

But there's one other big thing at work here and that's the HD effect.

There is no better live sport than hockey. Being in a cold, raucous arena where the hits are hard, the skaters are fast and the intensity is just awesome.

Never before could that be captured on TV and as my buddy Chad pointed out the puck is black, and much smaller than the focus of attention in other sports like basketball and football.

After the lock-out, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman took more money but far less exposure when he signed with Versus to broadcast his suddenly-floundering league.

It was an awful decision and the NHL has paid dearly for it. But HD can change all of that.

Finally, the TV can capture a lot of what going to the arena is all about and the action unfolding on the ice becomes that much clearer. 

No more squinting for the puck, waiting for the red light to tell you if a goal was scored or comet-style graphic that FOX employed some years back that gave the puck an illuminated tail to try and help the viewer to know where it was.

With more cameras in the arena and an ever crisper picture, hockey should re-slot itself as the fourth biggest sport in the American landscape and could once again push the NBA for third. 

While everything looks better in HD, the difference it makes when it comes to hockey, is much more significant and could make up the gap between fringe spectacle and mainstream mainstay.

Arena attendance is good. Fans love to pack the rink to see the games. With hockey in HD they can pack the living rooms too and be treated to a show almost as good.