Late, But Necessary

Albert Pujols has been an Angel for almost a month and the coup that Anaheim pulled off in signing he and CJ Wilson on the same day was impressive.

These moves may significantly affect the AL West for at least a half-decade, so there will be plenty of time to look back at that day and decide what it actually meant for the baseball landscape going forward.

Today I want to talk about something else entirely. I want to talk about Deidre Pujols, Albert’s wife.

When the mega-deal with Anaheim was official, Mrs. Pujols felt the need to air some things out in St. Louis. Why she felt the need to do so is beyond me, but she had the platform to do it and she took advantage.

She was interviewed by a local Christian radio station in St. Louis, which the Pujols’ have donated considerable sums to, and she started out by talking about how there was no reason for her (and Albert) to want to leave the Cardinals.

She (and Albert) wanted to stay. She (and Albert) really did.

But those wicked Cardinals made it impossible.

To quote from Deidre Pujols…

“When you have somebody say ‘We want you to be a Cardinal for life’ and only offer you a five-year deal, it kind of confused us. Well, we got over that insult* and felt like Albert had given so much of himself to baseball and into the community.”

*Mind you, this is on a Christian radio station in a country where millions of people are out of work and/or severely in debt. Please, tell me I’m wrong for finding a problem with someone being offered $20MM a year and calling it an insult. No? Okay then. Let’s move on.

She goes on like that, talking about how she (and Albert) wish the people of St. Louis well and whatnot.

Then she wraps up with…

“It’s just like God to put us on a team called the Angels.”

Let me make something very clear.

I have no problem with athletes that are religious in one way or another. I also have no problem with athletes that feel the need to use their platform to share their faith.

Josh Hamilton. Tim Tebow. Those guys don’t bother me.

What I do have a problem with is when Mrs. Pujols pretends that her husband’s decision is about anything more than money. Don’t call a $100MM+ deal an insult and then hide behind God and act like this was all about His divine plan.

This came down to dollars, cents, and ego. Not necessarily in that order.

I couldn’t find the original interview anywhere, so my quotes came from here.

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