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As the St. Louis Cardinals finish the 2005 season with the best record in baseball and another possible World Series run, baseball fans everywhere are looking at the incredible numbers being put up by Albert Pujols.

The Cardinals power hitting first baseman led the team in virtually every offensive category in 2005. But as strong as his numbers were relative to his teammates, consider the following for the entire National League: first in runs scored with 129, tied for second in runs batted with 117, second in batting average at .330, second in on base percentage and second in slugging percentage.

Further analysis shows that Pujols in his first five years has put together some of the best statistics to ever open up a baseball career. In his first five big league seasons he has 982 hits and 201 homers. He also has a .332 lifetime batting average, a .416 on base percentage, a .621 slugging percentage, and has driven in 612 runs over that five year period.

How good are Pujols numbers? First, compare those numbers to that of Manny Ramirez, considered by many the best right-handed hitter in the American League. The Sox outfielder had 590 hits, 109 home runs, 334 runs scored and 372 runs batted in.

There isn't any comparison of course. So we move from the current players to take a peek at the best first five years in major league history. Unknown to many, Pujols stacks up against the very best the game has ever seen.

The only major leaguer with more homers in the first five seasons in the majors is Ralph Kiner. The only players to score more runs in their first five seasons are Ted Williams (683) and Lou Gehrig (631). No player has more extra base hits or total bases - Pujols passed even Joe Medwick's incredible 1819 total bases in the final month of the season.

There is only one player who can compare to the start of Pujols, the "Splendid Splinter." In Ted Williams first five years in the majors, the left hander had a .353 BA, a .484 on base percentage and a .647 slugging percentage.

But going one step further, examine Pujols first five years and then compare them to any five year period in baseball history. The first baseman continues his rarefied standing.

Pujols is only the fourth major league player in baseball history to do the following over any five year span: 200 homers, 600 runs, 600 rbi and a .325 average. Who are the others? None other than the biggest legends in the game: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx.

Because he is a Cardinal, he has often been mentioned in the same sentence as Stan "The Man" Musial and Johnny Mize. Because his record is so incredibly strong, he is now being mentioned in the company of some of the game's elite.

Another five years of even matching his opening performance will have the game's current hitters being compared to Pujols. With the typical growth a player experiences in his late twenties as he reaches his prime, Pujols may ultimate redefine the standard by which great hitters are analyzed.