« As Lee chases Crown, what about Pujols? »

Quick ... stats!

.357 BA (1st), 33 HR (2nd, 2 back), 84 RBI (3rd, 6 back)
.341 BA (3rd), 30 HR (4th, 5 back), 88 RBI (2nd, 2 back)

The top line is Derrek Lee, who has been competing against the world for the first Triple Crown in 38 years and the first NL Crown in 68.

But Albert Pujols, his top competition in the MVP voting, isn't too far behind in his chase.

Neither will probably get it (Andruw Jones is at 35 homers, Carlos Lee has 90 RBI) but while Lee has been associated with the Crown chase and Pujols was the one on the winning team, Albert has just as much a shot as Lee to win it.

After hitting .400 in April and June, Lee "slumped" to a .303 average in July, although his homer and RBI totals have been steady.

Meanwhile, Pujols' average has been climbing slightly from .323 to .341 since the beginning of June.

Again, neither is likely to win it this year, and it's very unclear if Lee can have another season like this in the future. But Pujols is only 25 and has the tools to make a Triple Crown run for each of the next 10 season.