So, anything happen in 2011?
We can leave it to the professionals like Derrick Goold to look back at the moments in 2011 that people actually remember. Here at Cards Diaspora, we’re going to take a more whimsical look back at the things people read on this site.
“With Pujols, Maybe It’s Not About The Money” (01/31/11) LINK HERE
Anyone else watch World Series Game 6 and/or Game 7 on repeat this Christmas? I was at both games, and besides the highlights, I hadn’t watched Game 6 on TV in its entirety. Maybe it was just me being over sensitive, but I think Joe Buck mentioned that Pujols could be gone any at bat roughly 2,334 times.
DID BUCK KNOW!? I bet he did, that sumofabitch.
Looking back at the CD archives, we’re probably the only Cardinals related site to put so much negative energy around the Pujols ‘situation’. We WERE the only site to say that even a Game 7 World Series win at home wouldn’t be fully enjoyed because people like Joe Buck would keep banging on the fact that Pujols might be leaving.
In retrospect, we were right to be suspicious. Pujols took the money and ran. His little press tour touting it wasn’t about the money pretty much validated that it was about the money. He’s in Anaheim now. And for the most part, we’ve come to terms that the best player in baseball is not on the Cardinals. You know, at least until Opening Day.
But the thing is, we were honing in on the Cardinals being cheap, not the Pujols being greedy. We suspected after the 2010 season that the Birds would make one last Godfather offer to Pujols. Or at least what they considered to be a Godfather offer. And Pujols would take it and stay or try to use the free agent market to press for a bit more.
Albert had always said he wanted to stay in St. Louis. We figured that either Lozano was either going to pry the Cardinals coffers open and he’d sign or that they’d get lowballed again and he’d leave. Regardless, it was going to be DeWitt’s fault.
Silly us.
We trusted a bit too much. Because the Cardinals ended up offering the 10 years Albert wanted and at and average of over 21M per season. The team stepped up, Albert decided that the extra 35-40M in California was enough to jump ship. So he left.
I’ve got to be honest. I’m still a bit stunned that he did. Every year we see athletes take the most money and every year we still get suckered into thinking that a guy like Albert Pujols is different. That he really does feel like a big part of St. Louis and sees what he means to the city.
It’s always about the money. Always.
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