The number of the day is:

(Click Photo to enlarge)

5, for that is the number Albert Pujols sports on the back of his jersey. I could have used almost any of his ridiculous stats as the number of the day, but "career year" is a relative term when talking about Albert. Since his first day in the bigs, he has been bringing pitchers to their knees and fans to their feet. He hits long bombs about as often as T-Pain does feature work for other artists. And although "career year" doesn't mean much when talking about Albert, he may be finally having his in 2009.

In 2008 he battled through with nagging injuries and still managed to belt out 37 home runs and knock in 116 RBI, while hitting to a .328 average. However he may eclipse the first two numbers by August. After 75 games he has 28 homers (on pace for 60), 74 RBI (on pace for 159), 9 stolen bases just 7 short of his career high, and 58 walks (on pace for 127). All of these numbers would be impressive in their own rite, but when you realize they would all be career highs for Albert it makes it that much more impressive. And we haven't even talked about how good of a leader he is for the Cardinals or mentioned his great glove or the admirable work he does for the community.

Right now the Cardinals are tied with the Brewers for the NL Central lead, thanks to Albert and his machine like abilities. In the second half of the season, this divisional race looks to be one of the best in baseball. The Pirates are in last place just 5 games out, and have an added boost of energy since CF Andrew McCutchen was called to the bigs. The Astro's are steady with leaders like Roy Oswalt, Carlos Lee, and Lance Berkman. Both the Reds and Cubs are 3.5 games back, and both have the rosters to make a run. The Brewers have a loaded roster ready to make another playoff run, led by their own MLB royalty. But if any of these teams want to make a serious run in the second half, they are going to have to find a way to slow down this machine.