McRae has witnessed much during a 37-year major league career that produced six .300 seasons, an American League RBI title in 1982, seven years as a hitting coach for three teams and another five and a half seasons as manager of the Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. But six weeks of first-hand exposure told McRae he has never seen anyone quite like Jose Albert Pujols. His concise description is praise of the highest order for a player who turned 25 last January.
"When I ask him questions, he always gives the right answers," McRae said. "It's very clear he knows what he's doing. He knows what he wants to do with the ball. He knows what a pitcher is trying to do to him. He knows."
Know this: Pujols entered his fifth major league season and sixth as a professional in 2005 already having established himself as a transcendent hitter whose accomplishments are compared with those of Ted Williams, Ralph Kiner, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Ken Griffey Jr.