Reaction from Cardinals' Hall-of-Famers on Albert Pujols' decision to sign with the Angels:

Stan Musial:

“I’m sorry to see him go. He was a great Cardinal and gave us many great years.”

Bob Gibson:

"I hate to see him go, I really do. He should have been a Cardinal for life," Gibson said. "It's tough to turn that (kind of money) down."

Will it be a hard day for St. Louis fans?

"I would think it's got to be a hard day for Pujols, too. Aside from the fact that you're making a lot of more money, there's got to be a lot of emotional things there.

"He's got a lot of ties in St. Louis -- his family, his friends, so many organizations ... "

But Gibson thought a moment and said, "For $4 or $5 million a year, I think I could handle it."

Whitey Herzog, a former Hall-of-Fame manager with the Cardinals, on the move:

"It boils down to one thing. You never know what happens when you get to free agency. I think it's a perfect fit for the Angels. I said all along the Angels would be in there.

"There's a lot of things to consider. Signing Pujols and (C. J.) Wilson makes the Angels an instant favorite to win the American League West. And they're an immediate power in the American League to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox and whoever.

"The Santa Ana (Calif.) area is dominated by Latin American people. The owner (Arte Moreno), who is a Latin American, has been trying to get those people to become baseball fans all the way down the San Diego Freeway.

"So this contract is not hard to fathom. I'm sure (Moreno) is going to reap a lot of that back on season-ticket sales. I just think it's wonderful for the ball club."

Herzog said he was "worried" last spring when the Cardinals didn't re-sign Pujols. "That was big," said Herzog. "I thought at the time they should have come to a deal. Maybe say, ‘You'll be Cardinal for life and you'll get ‘x' amont of dollars till you're 65 years old.'

"But still I thought a deal might be worked out. I thought he could come back because of his ties to St. Louis and that it's a great place to play.

"What it boils down to again is that money talks.

"I don't blame the Cardinals. They made a helluva offer although I don't know how they would have structured it.

"I'm sure a lot of people in St. Louis are up in arms and calling the Cardinals cheapstakes. I don't think that's true. I think they negotiated a very fair contract."

But, said Herzog, "You can't deny what Albert did. He had a gimpy leg and a bad elbow and played every day. He was the Cardinals."

Ozzie Smith:

"You always know that once a player has an opportunity to go out in the free-agent market, you're afraid that somebody is going to throw enough money at him.

"The Angels were in position to get one of the best and they realized they had to shovel a lot of money out there.

"Albert, in the end, is a businessman. I think everybody would have liked for him to stay here but (the Cardinals) couldn't afford him, so we just wish him well.

"I just hope people don't start booing him or disliking him just because he moved on. He gave us 11 great years and two world championships.

"You wish him well and you just watch him from afar."

Red Schoendienst:

"I hate to see him leave. He's been a great ball player for us for 10, 11 years. It's one of those unfortunate things. It comes down to the bidding and whoever comes up with the big stuff, that's where you go.

"The Cardinals did a pretty good job (of negotiating), from what I've heard.

"We've got to go from here. We lost him. Now we've got to find somebody else.

"It's a funny thing. If he had stayed here, he could have had a statue right up next to Musial's."

Of Pujols' new contract, Schoendienst laughed and said, "In one time at-bat, he's going to make more than I made in my 18 years of playing. But I hope he stays healthy and keeps going."

Lou Brock:

"For the Cardinals, it was the beginning of a new era once it happened. In the fallout from it, there will be all kinds of speculations but the fact of the matter is that he probably didn't even know himself if he was going to go until the last 48 hours. I would imagine Albert had to think very deeply about this because of his commitment to kids here. I'm talking about kids between the ages of 7 and 12. I'm sure they all woke up this morning or came home this evening after school and 99 percent of them were surprised."