Pujols Enjoys the Show
I hope everyone had a swell weekend.
It was an interesting first week for Cardinals icon Albert Pujols.
He had an opening day homer washed out by the rain.
He spent a lot of time watching pitches sail out of the strike zone, taking eight walks among his first 25 plate appearances.
In the first six games, Albert had an onbase percentage of .560, and he batted .353. But it was a quiet week. With the Rockies and Nationals pitching around him in key situations, Pujols had a chance to swing the bat only twice with runners in scoring position, and was held to one RBI.
If the Cardinals can go 5-1 with Pujols driving in one run, then that’s a good start to the season.
I stopped by Pujols’ locker on Sunday to inform him that he was on a pace to walk more than 200 times this season. I was joking, of course, but he didn’t mind.
“I just want to win,” he said. “And I love what I’m seeing from this group of guys. They can put me on base all season, and I’ll just score a lot of runs. As long as we win, it doesn’t matter.”
Pujols was in a great mood Sunday, following the Cardinals 3-0 win over Washington. On the homestand, Cardinals starting pitchers had an 0.95 ERA. The entire staff gave up 11 earned runs in 54 IP.
Offensively, 10 different Cardinals scored runs … 12 drove in runs … 13 had hits.
There were four sacrifice bunts, two sac flies, and two stolen bases. And some impressive catches-plays in the field.
Rick Ankiel was a dominant force with three homers, six RBIs, and a batting line of .348 / .400 / .826.
But the Cardinals had a varied, if not robust, attack. They even defeated three LH starting pitchers.
What had Pujols fired up was the attitude around him.
“I kept trying to tell everyone during spring training that this team was going to be a lot better than people thought,” Pujols said. “No one wanted to listen, but you can see it. It’s an unselfish team and that’s hard to put in the form of stats. But I’m seeing guys giving themselves up by moving a runner over, and doing the little things it takes to win. Just doing what’s best for the team. I’m seeing guys really support each other. I see the pitchers making that tough pitch when they need it. The energy level is unbelievable. Like I said, that’s something you can’t put in numbers. But I feel it in here, man.”
Predictions?
“It’s better if people don’t expect much from us,” Pujols said. “I like it that way. Let’s just keep playing hard all the time the way we are, and let’s keep being an unselfish team, and we’ll surprise people.”
The Cardinals were an unhappy bunch in 2007. Miserable, even.
I don’t know how much these early positive vibes will translate into winning, but it can’t hurt.
“There’s a lot of great guys in here and they’re hungry to win,” Pujols said. “It makes it fun.”
–B
Nice to know Albert is having some fun out there..the team is thriving in the underdog role so far..
reminds me of Adam Wainwright’s comment about the team hanging on..he said they don’t need to just hang on until carp and mulder come back..they are good enough to compete now.. this team is exciting so far..i really enjoy watching them
nice blog bernie, i enjoy these
Bernie,
I found this interesting: This morning there are EIGHT pitchers in baseball with as many or more RBIs than Albert Pujols.
Three are on his team.
dg
-30-
[...] NOTEBOOK: Molina tied for pickoffs by Derrick Goold and Rick Hummel / ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Pujols Enjoying the Show By Bernie Miklasz / ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Cards pleased with Mulder’s progress - Left-hander faces Minor League hitters in ‘positive [...]
[...] Pujols told everyone the Cardinals were going to be better than they gave the team credit for. So far, he’s [...]
I just read that 1380 is talking about hiring Kevin Slaten. I don’t know how he stays alive. He is nothing more than a argumentative blowhard. I cannot beleive anyone would give him the time or day. I listen to the road home everyday but will remove 1380 from my car radio buttons if that goon is hired. If he is lawyer why doesn’t he practive?
Slot machines…
Slot machine…
Poker Online…
Online Poker…
Online Poker Sites…
Online Poker Sites
Casino Games
Play Poker
Online Gambling
Keno
Free Slots
Top Online Casinos…
Idol Ringtones�…
Samsung Ringtones
School Ringtones
Shut up Ringtone
Silent Ringtone
Smack that Ringtone
Spooky Ringtones
Sprint Ringtones
Star wars Ringtones
Totally free Ringtones
Tracfone Ringtones
Turkey Ringtones
Us cellular Ringto…
Bruce springsteen Ringtones…
Christian Ringtones
Cingular Ringtones
Cingular wireless Ringtones
…
Shut up Ringtone…
Download free Ringtones
Download Ringtones
Elvis Ringtones
…
Music Ringtones…
Lg Ringtones
Make Ringtone
Make your own Ringtones
…
Cricket Ringtones…
Nextel Ringtones
Nokia Ringtone
Nokia Ringtones
…
Verizon wireless Ringtones…
Ringtones for motorola cell phones
Ringtones free
Ringtone creator
…
Ringtone…
Shut up Ringtone
Silent Ringtone
Smack that Ringtone
…
High school musical Ringtones…
Verizon wireless Ringtones
Voice Ringtones
Wildlife Ringtones
…
At t Ringtones…
At t Ringtones
Blackberry Ringtones
Bruce springsteen Ringtones
…
Samsung Ringtones…
Crazy frog Ringtone
Create Ringtones
Cricket Ringtones
…
Movie Ringtones…
Funny Ringtones
Ghost Ringtone
High school musical Ringtones
…
Crazy frog Ringtone…
Motorola Ringtones
Motorola Ringtones free
Movie Ringtones
…
Us cellular Ringtones…
Polyphonic Ringtones free
Potter Ringtones
Real music Ringtones
…
Real music Ringtones…
Ringtones for a samsung
Ringtones for motorola
Ringtones mp3
…
Funny Ringtones…
Star wars Ringtones
Totally free Ringtones
Tracfone Ringtones
…
Alltel Ringtones…
100 free Ringtones
Adult Ringtones
Aflac Ringtones
…
Ringtones mp3…
Cheap Ringtones
Christian Ringtones
Cingular Ringtones
…
Motorola Ringtones…
Disney Ringtones
Download free Ringtones
Download Ringtones
…
College Ringtones…
Iphone Ringtones
Lg Ringtones
Make Ringtone
…
Polyphonic Ringtones free…
Ringtone converter
Ringtones for motorola cell phones
Ringtones free
…
Final fantasy Ringtones…
School Ringtones
Shut up Ringtone
Silent Ringtone
…
Aflac Ringtones…
Verizon Ringtones
Verizon wireless Ringtones
Voice Ringtones
…
Ringtones for a samsung…
American idol Ringtones
At t Ringtones
Blackberry Ringtones
…
Mobile Ringtones…
Crank Ringtone
Crazy frog Ringtone
Create Ringtones
…
Cingular Ringtones…
Funny Ringtone
Funny Ringtones
Ghost Ringtone
…
Free nokia ringtones…
Download free alltel ringtones
Download free alltel ringtone
Download cingular ringtones
Download cingular ringtone
Disney ringtones
Dave matthews band ringtones
Ctu ringtones
Ctu ringtone
Cricket ringtones
Cricket ringtone
…
Final fantasy ringtones…
24 ringtone
24 ctu ringtones
24 ctu ringtone
…
Complimentary right ringtones…
Download free sprint ringtone
Download free ringtones
Download free ringtones t mobile
…
24 ctu ringtones…
Free samsung ringtone
Free ringtones
Free ringtones maker
…
Free tracfone ringtones…
Britney spears ringtones
Britney spears ringtone
Blackberry ringtones
…
Free motorola ringtones…
Free cingular cell phone ringtone
Free cell phone ringtones
Free cell phone ringtone
…
Download free ringtones…
Free verizon wireless ringtone
Free verizon ringtones
Free verizon ringtone
…
Cheap ringtones…
Complimentary right ringtone
College ringtones
Cingular wireless ringtones
…
Hotlink maxis caller ringtone…
Free motorola ringtone
Free mobile ringtones
Free mobile ringtone
…
Free ringtones…
Hotlink caller ringtones
Hotlink caller ringtone
Hot ringtones
…
Free cricket ringtones…
Download free alltel ringtone
Download cingular ringtones
Download cingular ringtone
…
Download free alltel ringtones…
Free real music ringtone for nextel
Free polyphonic ringtones
Free polyphonic ringtone
…
Britney spears ringtone…
Adult ringtones
50 cent ringtones
50 cent ringtone
…
Get free ringtones…
Download ringtone
Download free verizon ringtones
Download free verizon ringtone
…
Free real music ringtone sprint…
Free t mobile ringtone
Free sprint ringtones
Free sprint ringtone
…
Free cell phone ringtones…
Cell phone ringtone
Caller ringtones
Caller ringtone
…
Cricket ringtones…
Free composer ringtone
Free cingular ringtones
Free cingular ringtone
…
Aflac ringtones…
Funny ringtone
Free virgin mobile ringtones
Free virgin mobile ringtone
…
Free verizon ringtones…
Crazy frog ringtones
Crazy frog ringtone
Crank ringtone
…
Free nextel ringtones…
Free music ringtone
Free mp3 ringtones
Free mp3 ringtone
…
jennifer lopez sedu hairstyles…
teen model
teen nude
teen nudist
teen nudists
teen sedu hairstyles
teenah
teenboat
teenie files
teenie movies
teeniefiles
teeniemovies
teeniesxxx
teenseven
teenspot
teenstitsandass
teeny angels
teeny bopp…
seancody…
evening dresses
evil genius icons
evilchili
…
american pie lyrics…
copyright
cordovox
corned beef
…
harry potter books…
bsnude
buffie the body
building scalable cisco internetworks
…
psp…
atkingdom
atkmodels
audio data tag 8192
…
xbox…
3pic
3xupload
40and50plus
…
evening dresses…
viejas casino http
vip sportsbook
virgin mary pretzel
…