Defending Benedict Arnold

  

Months ago, Albert Pujols made the decision to leave St. Louis for the greener grass of California, and I hated him for it.  At the time, I like so many other irrational fans could not see past our own undying loyalty to a team for which we have never played.  We saw Albert Pujols as a traitor, a greedy and egotistical mercenary who measured his worth only with the number of zeros on his paychecks.  Pujols, it seems, was not the only greedy one.  What about our greed?  What about the greed and egotism that goes into wondering how dare this Albert Pujols character leave behind my love for this team and him by an extension of that?  How dare Albert decide that he would rather play someplace else?  As I now watch his games only on Sportscenter or whatever tabs I can keep on him via internet sources, I see the boos coming his way from both the fans who now wear his Angels jersey and the fans who are still thinking of burning the Cardinals version of the same thing.  Amidst all this hatred and ridicule, it is difficult not to wonder one thing: doesn’t Albert, traitor or not, deserve better for all he has done for the Cardinals, St. Louis, and even baseball over the last 11 years.

Albert Pujols, as we are learning, possibly for the first time, is not a machine.  Perhaps the days of projecting his statistics for the upcoming years with a permanent marker have passed, or perhaps this is just a hiccup along the line of what is already a Hall of Fame career.  Either way, doesn’t Pujols deserve the benefit of the doubt from his new “fans” out in Anaheim?  In a team filled with overpaid stars and a payroll that is bulging around the seams, Angels fans have much bigger things to worry about than quite possibly the best right handed hitter in baseball since Lou Gehrig.  I guess those filling the stands with Pujols jerseys currently in California have not seen what I have seen from Pujols.  They have not seen a man with such intensity and ferocity that at times I wondered if he were trying to simply get a hit or if he were trying to separate yarn from leather and expose the stitching of a major league ball.  All that I ask is for these same fans who are booing to not be the first to brag about being a fan of a team with the game’s best player in a month’s time when all becomes right with the world and Pujols begins to hit at his normal pace.

As for Cardinal’s fans, I get it.  I understand the feelings of loss that came with not having the big number 5 in the middle of the order night after night.  I was amongst those who cheered the loudest for the hero of my formative years.  I have seen more Albert Pujols homeruns than possibly any other player’s over the years, and the last thing I ever wanted to think about was a lineup that did not include Albert in the middle of it.  This being said, the post Pujols era has begun with much of the success that we became accustomed to with Albert playing first.  If you are one of those Cardinals fans who has taken a moment away from your enjoyment of this year’s team to revel in the fact that Pujols has struggled so much in California, then shame on you.  Beyond the obvious lack of enjoyment of a young and exciting team that still has flexibility and as bright of a future as its present, Albert did nothing terrible to St. Louis.  He simply accepted more money to do a job in one place than another, and substantially so.  From all the reports I have heard, Albert is making almost $5 million per year than he would with St. Louis.  Is there any one of us who would not at least consider if this offer was made to us?

On top of all this, Albert Pujols was a part of 2 World Series champions, another Pennant winner, and more happy memories than I could ever quantify.  Albert Pujols made much of my youth a happy time with the help of Tony LaRussa, Dave Duncan, and all the others who made the success of the Cardinals possible.  I only wish that the Cardinals played the Angels this year, and as a group, we could show Pujols this appreciation for what he made possible in St. Louis.  We can say all that we want about how Pujols turned his back on St. Louis and made decisions that were motivated by greed, but well before he was given that chance, he gave the Cardinals a player that will go down in history as one of the best who ever lived.  He gave me as a fan, memories that I will share with whatever kids will listen around the nursing home someday.  Albert may have left St. Louis, but he sure gave us a lot before he left.  I think that is enough to deserve my sympathy, and my anger at those who will boo someone they know nothing about.