Now It’s Getting Sad

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It came. 

A single link late Saturday night, with no comment. Right there in the e-mail box from Mountain Fresh (LINK HERE).

He didn't have to say anything and I didn't have to respond.

It was sad.

Sad that it came to this. Sad that we didn't really, but kind felt like we needed to say something to each other. Sad that we knew all of this was coming… but not in 2013.

Albert Pujols is headed to the DL for (most likely) the rest of the season. He has aggravated the partially torn plantar fascia in his right foot and can't continue to power through it. The Angels have shut him down and have all but said he'll be shelved until 2014 barring a strong finish that sees them in the hunt the last month of the season. 

Did you click on that link, though?

Let's rank the sadness  from most to least sad. Knowing that ALL of it is sad. Just in levels.

1) Albert Pujols stories are now obligated to mention his contract terms. When he made over 100 million with the Cardinals, it never really was mentioned. Now? Every story. Every time. It's going to end up defining his career, as opposed to his on-field numbers.

2) In today's web world, lists = page views. (See, Feed comma Buzz). So now there are links like 'MLB's Worst Contracts: Where Does Pujols Rank' embedded into his stories.

3) Albert can't play 1B anymore. He's less than 3 years removed from winning the Gold Glove at 1B.

4) He's not giving comments in English? So he's even got self-conscious about the 'mang'? He knows that all that teasing was coming from a good place, right? Perhaps this quote was given to a question posed in Spanish. Don't know. 

5) He's still considering not having surgery. He still thinks he can man-up and this will go away. 

Again, this article is around 200 words long. It's basically a reformatted AP press release. But, man… is it ever sad. Pujols isn't supposed to be human. He's not supposed to be an easy out. And he certainly doesn't go on the DL for months at time.

Here we are, though.

Albert Pujols finally is getting all the attention he deserved while he was in St. Louis, but it's for all the wrong reasons. 

Best of luck, El Hombre. We just wanted to beat you in the World Series and raise #12. We weren't wishing all of this on you. 

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