Pujols breaks Musial’s grand slam record
CINCINNATI _ Another day, another record for St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols. But this was a big one, because it involved Hall of Famer Stan Musial.
Pujols was hitless in three at-bats before he came to bat in the eighth inning tonight at Cincinnati where the Cardinals trailed 3-0. Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker, despite the fact that Pujols was nine for 18 with two home runs against veteran righthanded reliever David Weathers, summoned Weathers anyway with the bases loaded.
But, with the bases loaded, Pujols the .300 hitter, becomes better than an .800 hitter. Already five for six with three grand slams with 16 runs batted in with the bases full this season, Pujols gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead in one swing.
The homer was the 350th in Pujols’ career but even more significant, it was his 10th grand slam, eclipsing Musial’s club record by one. The blast, which came one pitch after Pujols’ foul pop barely crept into the photo well near the Reds’ dugout, took Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro off the hook after Pineiro had given up three runs in seven innings.
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When Dusty managed the small bears, I always thought he was not only a mediocre manager, but detrimental to the success of that team. He positive rep seemed to owe a lot to having Barry Bonds on his earlier team. His summoning Weathers to pitch to Pujols only adds to my belief that he hasn’t improved in his decision-making in Cincy.
Albert Pujols is truly amazing. 80 plus RBIs before the All-Star game on a team that has had trouble getting on base in front of him…