Albert, thanks for the memories

The greatest player in the major leagues used to shove quarters into a batting cage machine on U.S. 40, because he didn’t have enough money to buy a half hour session.
He had a laminated Examiner photo of him swinging a bat glued to his dashboard, and old copies of the paper that featured his headlines and photos sitting on the back seat of his car.
He helped Fort Osage win a state championship in baseball in 1997 and celebrated by taking my 9-year-old son Sean on the team bus to a now defunct restaurant in Columbia, Mo., where you could select your own cut of steak and cook it yourself over a massive open grill.
Little did I know that when I arrived at Alexander’s, after visiting with coach Dave Fry, Albert Pujols and Sean would be cooking a steak that could have fed the entire Indians team.
I don’t know who had the bigger grin on his face – Sean or Pujols.
This was a weekend bathed in memories as Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals made their annual interleague visit to Kauffman Stadium.
As I watched Pujols, I marveled at his brilliance on and off the field.
He collected base hits, signed autographs and did everything the hometown hero is supposed to do.
It brought back memories of the first time Pujols returned to the metro area after signing a contract with the Cardinals and making the parent team out of spring training.
He showed up at a Hi-Boy Drive-In/Post 340 American Legion game at Crysler Stadium. Pujols had played for coach Gary Stone’s team and the future National League MVP sat in the stands and in the Hi-Boy dugout during the doubleheader.
“We nearly ran out of balls that game,” Stone said a while back, “because everyone was taking one for Albert to sign.”
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa calls Pujols, “The greatest player I have ever managed.”
Let that statement sink in.
LaRussa has managed Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley and Ozzie Smith, future Hall of Famer and all-time stolen base king Rickey Henderson, and the “Bash Brothers,” former home run kings Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.
Sure, we now know they were juiced when they muscled their way to stardom with the A’s, but they were sure fun to watch before we knew that much of their power was the result of shooting up steroids.
Hal McRae, the Cardinals batting coach who was the heart and soul of the Royals during their glory days, calls Pujols, “The most prepared player I’ve ever been around.”
Pujols watches more film that Siskel and Roeper combined and has the uncanny ability to discover the most minute flaw in his swing or approach at the plate.
“Albert is unbelievable,” said Royals Hall of Famer and Kansas City sports icon George Brett, who made No. 5 the most famous numeral in the history of this town.
When told that Pujols wears No. 5 because of his admiration for Brett, the former three-time batting champion said, “I picked No. 5 because of (Hall of Fame third baseman) Brooks Robinson. It’s really an honor to have Albert pick his number because I wore No. 5.
“I’m going to have to tell my kids that. Maybe it will impress them.”
For the past five years, Pujols has been in the top three in National League MVP voting.
The 2001 NL Rookie of the Year became the first major league player to hit 30 or more home runs in each of his first six seasons back in 2006. He is the youngest to hit 250 career home runs and the first player since Ted Williams to start his career with seven consecutive 100-RBI seasons.
He won a Gold Glove and an MVP Award in 2005 and was a World Series champion in 2006.
The Royals didn’t show any interest in Pujols when he dominated opponents at Fort Osage. Their scouting department thought Pujols was older than advertised and that he would have problem with his playing weight.
Phat Albert has shown the folks on the other side of the state that he can mash against the likes of Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson in much the same fashion he did against the overmatched pitching staffs at William Chrisman or Truman high schools.
“I hear all the time when we come to Kansas City that Albert was a great high school player,” LaRussa said. “If he was better than he is right now, he must have been something.”
He was.
And he is – the greatest player in the game.
At least we get to see him play in person three times a year.
And lucky guys like me have the memories of his brilliant prep career. I think a lot of us knew he was going to be special, but no one could have imagined a career like the one he’s put together in St. Louis.
Albert, thanks for the memories.