Cardinals Nation: Perhaps It’s Time to Forgive Albert

It’s always difficult to watch the Cardinals play Anaheim, even when we sweep the Angels in a 3-game away series. Because we are reminded of the departure of #5 Albert Pujols.

St. Louisans love their baseball heroes. Most former Cardinals garner great respect as they stand in front of devoted Cardinals fans bearing logos from opposing teams. In fact earlier this month, David Freese returned to Busch as a Pirate to a standing ovation of Cardinals fans. Mark McGwire received a standing ovation during his first public appearance after admitting steroid use in 2010. All is forgiven; let’s get back to baseball. Even Yankee Derek Jeter and Brave Chipper Jones received thundering applause as they made their farewell tours.

So why is Pujols' name acknowledged only with jokes, sighs, or guttural grunts when brought up among Redbird company? Like him or not, Pujols is one of the greatest to don the Birds on the Bat.

Who can forget Pujols’ 3 home runs to lift the Cards up over the Rangers in the 2011 World Series?

I remember it well. The 2011 season was finished with another W in the books, the third for the Cardinals in my lifetime. Then the negotiations with Pujols began. Requests for more money for your recent World Series hero is typical, so the St. Louis executives went to work drafting a deal. Pujols had expressed his desire to remain a lifelong Cardinal as had so many other Cardinal greats. He had given his best years to the team. To fans, Pujols was family, like Ozzie Smith and Stan Musual.

The Cards offered Pujols an unfathomable $210 million for 10 years to extend his contract. It may not have been wise to pay such a salary to an aging slugger, but it’s the least they could do. I remember looking through other team’s stats to see who could afford Pujols and who was in need of a first baseman. The list was short. It was a shoo-in that Albert Pujols, #5, would retain the birds on the bat and retire a Cardinal. I was wrong, and Cardinals Nation was wrong.

The Anaheim Angels, fresh with millions in the bank from a regional FOX Sports Network deal, offered Pujols $254 million over 10 years and a slew of other promises in what seemed like a midnight deal. The deal was done. Pujols wasted no time donning the new Angels jersey for press conferences. And on top of that, Albert’s wife Deidre said of the deal, “It's just like God, to put us on a team called the Angels.”

Here we are 5 seasons later, and it’s time to end the grudge. Yes, we were hurt when Pujols left the good Midwest and joined yet another rich, coastal team. We didn’t understand how anyone could leave a job worth so much money and glory, especially since the rest of the US was battling a recession. And perhaps St. Louisans are wrong to joyfully share the story that Pujols’ contract with the Angels is possibly the worst deal in baseball. He disappointed a city that had placed such hope in him.

However, we shouldn’t forget that Pujols was with us for 11 seasons. He was the backbone of the Cardinals.  I remember his stance and the cheers as he batted. The game could seem a total loss, but Pujols gave fans hope.

The beauty of economics and capitalism is that sometimes partnerships don’t work out, and that’s ok. The Cardinals cannot afford to employ aging sluggers in the same way the American League teams can, so they shouldn’t.  I would argue that Pujols’ contract was the best deal in baseball. Albert Pujols, who energized the Redbirds for so long, received his requested contract price by a team willing to pay it in a fragmented sports market where baseball really needed a shining star. And the Cardinals are not weighed down by his excessive salary which would require us to save money by skimping on the salaries for the rest of the team. So we should remember the good ol’ days when Pujols was at the bat in Cardinal Red. We should share it with our children and grandchildren. But we should respect that Pujols is with the Angels and, when it gets down to it, baseball is business. It’s time to suck up our Cardinal pride and give the man the appreciation he deserves.

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