Pujols is a great example! If young players would dissect his swing and work hard to duplicate it they will go as far in baseball as their athleticism and genetics will allow.Not sure if you watched the A-Rod interview with Pujols the other night but in the interview A-Rod asked Pujols which was more important to him. The 3,000 hits or the 600+ homeruns. Without batting an eye he said the hits. Which he then transitioned into talking about batting average meaning a lot to him.
Think about it. A slugger may hit 40 hr's in a season. That in and of itself is highly impressive. But putting into context of how many total at bats they had during a year (550) and honestly, it's a blip on the radar. I know HR's are a "sexier" and more popular aspect of the game among the masses. But more times than not it's the non homerun hits that win ballgames.
A hitting coach we worked with at Tallahassee Community College favorite axiom was ...the top of the ball is yours, the bottom of the ball is the pitchers.
We seldom saw Albert popping out!