The most important bats on many of the league’s best teams play at first — putting up stratospheric batting average, RBI, and home run numbers.
Albert Pujols is generally regarded as baseball’s current alpha dog. In 2010, he failed to win the MVP and had an unexceptional season by his standards. That, of course, meant hitting .312 with 42 home runs and 118 RBIs.
The man who defeated him for the NL MVP, Joey Votto, plays the same position, and posted .324, 37 home run, 113 RBI numbers while leading the Reds back to the postseason.
Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera did even better — batting .328 with 38 home runs and 126 RBIs.
Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard, though, are probably the most powerful first basemen, but their 32 and 31 home runs represented respective down years, and their averages weren’t what they had been in the past either.
Mark Teixeira‘s average in New York fell all the way to .256 as well, but he did still manage 108 RBIs. Tex, though, did notch his fourth Gold Glove.
Adrian Gonzalez, like Teixeira, is elite in the field, but his .298 average and 31 home runs in cavernous Petco Park in 2010 was highly impressive as well.
Who is the best all-around first baseman in baseball?online survey
