[新聞] Pujols honored with AFL Alumni award
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10/10/2007 12:36 AM ET
Pujols honored with AFL Alumni award
Cardinals slugger calls Fall League experience a 'turning point'
By Lisa Winston / MLB.com
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- It was October 2000 and 20-year-old Albert Pujols had
just completed a whirlwind of a summer in his professional debut.
A 13th-round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999 out of Maple Woods
Community College in Kansas, Pujols had signed too late that summer to play,
so his first taste of the Minors came in 2000, when he hit .324 with 17
homers and 84 RBIs in 109 games at Class A Peoria of the Midwest League.
At summer's end, he moved up a level to Advanced Class A Potomac for a brief
stretch before finishing up in the postseason with the Triple-A Memphis
Redbirds. He earned Pacific Coast League playoff MVP honors, hitting .347 and
appearing with them in what would be the final Triple-A World Series in Las
Vegas.
Then, when most mortal men would be ready to fly home, collapse on their
living room couches and grab the remote control and a bag of chips for a few
months, Pujols continued to play for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona
Fall League.
To be honest, he thought he'd be one of those guys who would fly home and
relax with his family. But when the Cardinals asked him to go to the AFL, he
knew that in the long run it would be the best thing he could do.
"I was real tired, my wife was pregnant and I thought I would be going home
to be with my family," he said. "But I knew that if I wanted to make it to
the big leagues I needed to get better. And I'd heard so many great things
about the Arizona Fall League, that I'd get to face the best players from
each organization."
With Scottsdale, he continued to hit while also starting the transition from
third base, his original position, to the outfield, where the Cardinals
thought he'd wind up (he did not move to first base on a full-time basis
until 2004).
On Tuesday, Opening Day of the AFL's 16th season, the league honored Pujols
with the unprecedented "Distinguished Alumni Award." Pujols was on hand to
witness the retirement of his Scottsdale jersey, No. 36, in left field at
Scottsdale Stadium.
In front of a large crowd, more than a few of whom were wearing St. Louis
Cardinals jerseys bearing his name, Pujols called the honor the highlight of
his career, which is saying something from a man who was named National
League MVP in 2005.
But Pujols cited his trip through the AFL as a turning point in what has
been, in its first seven years, a remarkable Major League career.
"Obviously, it took me to the next level," he said. "I thank the fall league
for giving me the opportunity to play here because it really developed my
game a lot."
If people thought Pujols' meteoric rise through the Cardinals system in his
debut season was unexpected, they certainly couldn't have anticipated what he
would do for an encore in 2001. Nor what he would do -- what he continues to
do -- for the six-and-counting seasons that followed.
Pujols made the Cardinals out of Spring Training as a non-roster player in
'01 and earned NL Rookie of the Year honors, hitting .329 with 37 homers and
130 RBIs. Since then, he has become the first player in Major League history
to hit at least 30 homers each of his first seven seasons. He's also topped
the .300 and 100-RBI plateaus every year.
Talk about your model of consistency, he's never played in fewer than 140
games in a season or hit fewer than 30 doubles, topping the 50-mark twice.
Inducted to the AFL Hall of Fame in 2004, Pujols was thrilled by his latest
honor.
"It seems like it was yesterday that I had one of my best experiences playing
here in the fall league with so many talented, great players," he said. "It's
just such an honor to be here tonight and receive this award."
Lisa Winston is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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