ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
http://www.stltoday.com/
04/13/2010
At the end of another spectacular home opener at Busch Stadium — and another dramatic, scene-stealing show by Albert Pujols — Tony La Russa strolled into his usual postgame news conference and was immediately asked what seemed to be almost a throwaway question.
"Tony, how incredible would you say Albert is?" someone chirped to the manager after Pujols' one-homer, four-RBI showcase in the Redbirds' 5-0 victory over the Houston Astros.
ST. LOUIS, MO - APRIL 12: Albert Pujols(notes) #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals rounds third base after hitting a three-run home run against the Houston Astros in the home opener at Busch Stadium on April 12, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)Leave it to La Russa, whose sense of theater is greatly underrated, to take this throwaway and turn it into a definitive description of the man who has now officially and unequivocally become baseball's best player.
"I was thinking Adam (Wainwright) was incredible," said La Russa, with a little mischief in his eye. "(But) Albert's amazing. ... Albert's just ... just amazing."
Amazing is a heck of a thing to be on a day like this. Opening day at Busch is special not because it spends idle time dreaming of the promising phenoms, but acknowledging Cardinal legends. Accomplishments trump potential. Hefty Hall of Fame pedigrees rule over kids with no pelts on the walls. It's no accident that the first ones to come rolling out of the outfield gates during pregame ceremonies are the legendary Cardinals Hall of Famers like Ozzie Smith and Bob Gibson, Red Schoendienst and Bruce Sutter, Lou Brock and Whitey Herzog, and of course the greatest of all, Stan Musial.
But by the end of this perfect day for baseball — with flawless high skies and glorious Cardinal tradition, and with an ace pitcher showing off some pretty good stuff — the man no one could keep his eyes off of was Pujols. He is already on an incredible tear to start the season, with five home runs and 14 RBIs and a .407 average in only seven games. He is also now officially the most productive home run hitter in major-league history over the course of his first 10 seasons (371 home runs) and is coming off a Triple Crown for the past decade (.334 average, 366 homers and 1,112 RBIs in only nine years).
So what else could he do on opening day but do what guys like him are supposed to do on days like this?
He drove in the first run of the day in the first inning with a single, bashed a three-run homer into the Astros' bullpen in the third and then turned things over to Wainwright to close down Houston and send the home folks out of the ballpark happy.
You watch him do this stuff on a daily basis and it spoils you. But the longer you watch him — particularly up close when you see the intensity behind the scenes that comes with the spectacular outward show — and you begin to truly appreciate what he does. For instance, did you happen to notice how zoned in he was before the game?
He came off the flatbed of the shiny truck that wheeled him to home plate for pregame introductions, and as Pujols bounded off the truck, he was already locked in mentally.
"I'm locked in as soon as I jump in my car (to drive to the ballpark)," Pujols said after the game. "I like to think that when I go to bed tonight, if we had a game tomorrow, I am already thinking about the guys I'll have to face. That's the way I do it for 162 games and the playoffs."
ST. LOUIS, MO - APRIL 12: Albert Pujols(notes) #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a three-run home run against the Houston Astros in the home opener at Busch Stadium on April 12, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)I asked him if he even saw the faces of the Hall of Famers during the ceremony because you could tell that he was already in game mode. He smiled a bit and shook his head. "Oh no, you have to get involved in the celebration," he said. "You have to respect the Hall of Famers. That's why we have a pretty special organization. ... It's pretty special having those guys around and to be able to just shake their hand and say hello to them, that is one of the things that I love about this organization."
He paused for a second and again gave you another smile.
"I get involved in the celebration," he said. "But you don't have time to get too caught up into that moment because 10 minutes later, you have to play baseball."
And when Pujols plays baseball, it's no exaggeration that he's doing something that will one day put him in the same company with the great former Cardinals whom he honors best by not just shaking their hands, but by playing the game on the same high level they did.
Pujols loves Cardinals tradition, and said he wished he could have lingered a bit longer with Stan the Man and all the other greats. And when he was asked if he could imagine a time when he will be retired, sporting a red jacket as a part of that Hall of Fame lineup he has passed every opening day for the last 10 years, he almost put up a stop sign like a frantic third base coach.
"Right now I am so young in my career," he said. "I know the legacy that I have to follow because of those guys. That's my job to make sure I follow that ... but I don't want to put that pressure on myself. I know what I am capable of doing ... (but) I will just try to stay healthy and I let my job out there speak for itself."
We have already seen enough, Albert. We have seen you healthy, and seen you hurt, and quite frankly it's actually getting kind of tough to tell by the stat sheets if there really is any difference.
"That's just a part of his amazingness," said La Russa.
Amazingness?
I'm not really sure that's a word. But if it is, that's exactly what Pujols is.
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