Albert Pujols' Influence On and Off the Field Profiled By CBS
Albert Pujols is everything you want in a professional athlete. First and foremost, the St. Louis Cardinals' slugging first baseman is big and strong, and few players work harder than he does. It's because of these things that he's put himself on the fast track to the Baseball Hall of Fame, not to mention a new contract that could be worth as much as $30 million a year.
Of course, as great as Pujols is on the field, his influence stretches well beyond the ballpark. He is one of the most charitable athletes in contemporary sports, which is as much a part of his legend at this point as everything he's accomplished with a baseball bat. And it was this aspect of his life that served as the primary focus of his appearance on CBS' long-running series 60 Minutes on Sunday night.
Pujols and his wife, Deirdre, are well known at this point for the Pujols Family Foundation, the charity they launched in 2005. The Foundation's mission is to three-pronged:
As for the first part of that statement, Down syndrome is something that became part of his life when he and Deirdre got married in 2000. Deirdre's daughter, Isabella, was born with Down syndrome. His 60 Minutes interview opened with a feature of a dancing party that the Foundation put on, in which Pujols was shown dancing with seemingly every last guessed in attendance. The smile on his face made it clear that he was having the time of his life.
Pujols' rise to prominence was also chronicled by CBS. It started with Pujols getting largely overlooked as a high schooler in Kansas City, as he wasn't drafted until the 13th round of the 1999 MLB Draft. Two years later, he won the NL Rookie of the Year on the strength of a season that saw him hit .329 with 37 home runs and 130 RBIs. I think we all know the rest.
When Pujols is not crushing fastballs in the major leagues, there's a good chance you'll find him in the Dominican Republic, where he makes an effort to make a difference in just about any way possible, whether it be providing healthcare, mattresses, or of course, baseball diamonds.
Pujols makes no effort whatsoever to hide the fact that his life is driven by his faith. It's what leads him to value the lives of others as much as he values his own, and the fact that it has also led him to a clean lifestyle has also come in handy. After all, Pujols managed to survive baseball's infamous Steroid Era without a single black mark on his resume, and this is a big reason why he has long since emerged as the face of the game.
In the realm of contemporary sports, there are only so many athletes that are universally liked by everyone. Pujols is one of them, which is pretty remarkable given how so many of his contemporaries have been vilified over the last decade.
On balance, the 60 Minutes segment only served to further cement something that any self-respecting baseball fan should already know full well: that we are getting to watch a true living legend. He's already one of the game's all-time greats, and he's just 31-years-old. By the time he retires, he could be the greatest player to ever play the game.
I don't know about you, but I'm thankful that day is still many years away.
For more on this matter, see where Pujols ranks on our list of The 100 Greatest Players in MLB History.
Albert Pujols is everything you want in a professional athlete. First and foremost, the St. Louis Cardinals' slugging first baseman is big and strong, and few players work harder than he does. It's because of these things that he's put himself on the fast track to the Baseball Hall of Fame, not to mention a new contract that could be worth as much as $30 million a year.
Of course, as great as Pujols is on the field, his influence stretches well beyond the ballpark. He is one of the most charitable athletes in contemporary sports, which is as much a part of his legend at this point as everything he's accomplished with a baseball bat. And it was this aspect of his life that served as the primary focus of his appearance on CBS' long-running series 60 Minutes on Sunday night.
Pujols and his wife, Deirdre, are well known at this point for the Pujols Family Foundation, the charity they launched in 2005. The Foundation's mission is to three-pronged:
As for the first part of that statement, Down syndrome is something that became part of his life when he and Deirdre got married in 2000. Deirdre's daughter, Isabella, was born with Down syndrome. His 60 Minutes interview opened with a feature of a dancing party that the Foundation put on, in which Pujols was shown dancing with seemingly every last guessed in attendance. The smile on his face made it clear that he was having the time of his life.
Pujols' rise to prominence was also chronicled by CBS. It started with Pujols getting largely overlooked as a high schooler in Kansas City, as he wasn't drafted until the 13th round of the 1999 MLB Draft. Two years later, he won the NL Rookie of the Year on the strength of a season that saw him hit .329 with 37 home runs and 130 RBIs. I think we all know the rest.
When Pujols is not crushing fastballs in the major leagues, there's a good chance you'll find him in the Dominican Republic, where he makes an effort to make a difference in just about any way possible, whether it be providing healthcare, mattresses, or of course, baseball diamonds.
Pujols makes no effort whatsoever to hide the fact that his life is driven by his faith. It's what leads him to value the lives of others as much as he values his own, and the fact that it has also led him to a clean lifestyle has also come in handy. After all, Pujols managed to survive baseball's infamous Steroid Era without a single black mark on his resume, and this is a big reason why he has long since emerged as the face of the game.
In the realm of contemporary sports, there are only so many athletes that are universally liked by everyone. Pujols is one of them, which is pretty remarkable given how so many of his contemporaries have been vilified over the last decade.
On balance, the 60 Minutes segment only served to further cement something that any self-respecting baseball fan should already know full well: that we are getting to watch a true living legend. He's already one of the game's all-time greats, and he's just 31-years-old. By the time he retires, he could be the greatest player to ever play the game.
I don't know about you, but I'm thankful that day is still many years away.
For more on this matter, see where Pujols ranks on our list of The 100 Greatest Players in MLB History.
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