More Fallout on the Pujols Saga: Shame On You Albert
As the baseball world collectively regroups after an eventful day courtesy of the LA Angels, more reaction and opinions on the Albert Pujols situation continue to come out. Our newest addition to the BoSox Injection team, Earl Nash, asked me to get his opinion posted on the matter as he is not quite set up for posting duties.
With that, I give you Earl Nash’s debut article. Enjoy.
Shame on you, Albert Pujols.
Yes, on behalf of all the kids who idolized you as their personal hero:
Shame on you, Albert Pujols.
Your home team’s offer of $200 million was not enough, you had to have that extra $54 million from a team on the other side of the country in that other league; you must have really needed that extra money, even though the important Life Lesson that you taught all the kids who worshiped you is this: Leave the loyalty, take the money.
Because they were so sure that you would return their loyalty in kind, they are now left damaged. Sure, they will grow up, but they will never “get over it,” because, when they were most vulnerable, one of the first people outside their family that they fell in love with, sold them out for a few pieces of silver. No, Mr. Pujols, heroes don’t leave town.
You are the greatest baseball player on the planet and you certainly deserve adequate compensation for demonstrating the elegant balance between strength and grace and the work you put in to maintain the supreme skills that you were born with. But you, or any other superlatively talented athlete who plays The Game of Baseball, is not worth millions of dollars—a million dollars per home run? Really?
When Willie Mays earned a bit more than the President of the United States, he was well worth the money; but he was from a generation of heroic players who “would have played for free,” because they were baseball players first and they were delighted, even surprised, to discover that they could make a good living by playing a game they loved.
And most of the players of that era worked at a common man’s job during the off-season to make ends meet.
Now, the common man, who is not a guest in the luxury boxes, or in the box seats the corporations buy for their clients, but just one of those faceless fans in the crowd now must save for months to take their kids to see you play: to him, a million dollars is a lot; to him a hundred dollars is a lot of money. But, like many baseball millionaires who have reached the 1%, you can tell your conscience: “It’s not my fault, why shouldn’t I get all I can?” OK, it is also the fault of ego maniac millionaires; you are the equivalent of Viagra to their fragile manhood. And, you were a “free” agent; you now have $254 million, but now, you are owned. And, yes, it is your fault too, because you had a choice; you could have taken a measly $200 million and said: “Loyalty is more important to me than money.” But, you didn’t.
Hey, even some adults were shocked by your decision:
“I always assumed that he would come back to St. Louis just because of all that he’s done for the community and the team and the organization. I just assumed he would come back. But that might have been wishful thinking.” [Skip Schumaker, Cardinal team mate]
So, since your money’s in the bank, you can feel free to speak the truth at your next press conference and just say:
“I want to say to all the Cardinal fans in St. Louis and all across the great Midwest, especially the kids, who gave me their love and support, I am abandoning you, because I value money over loyalty.”
Your Cardinal team mates say you are a decent man, who has self-respect and works hard to sustain a level of excellence on the field. Too bad you did not show the same respect to your loyal Cardinal fans, especially the kids who went to bed crying last night with a hole, the size of a baseball, in their heart.
But, at least, you left them this Life Lesson: leave the loyalty, take the money.
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