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There is a time in life when “all else is equal”.  The kids who are good at sports aren’t THAT much better and the smart kids aren’t that much smarter.  Fast forward to>>> 29 and then you realize that is not the case anymore.

He will not stop hitting, of course. That is no option. He hit his way out of the Dominican Republic. He hit his way into the American dream. In his eight years in the major leagues, Pujols, still only 29, has never hit less than .314, never hit fewer than 32 home runs, never driven in fewer than 103 runs, never finished out of the Top 10 in the MVP balloting. He is the Best Player in Baseball.

I do however have much in common with Albert Pujols.  Perhaps the most important thing.  No, THE most important thing.  And just like his baseball playing I sincerely look up to this guy and in many ways want to imitate what I am reading about him.

Below are highlights regarding Pujols spirituality, and heart.  But you might as well read the whole thing.  I was wasn’t crying at the end,…my eyes were just hurting.  Good luck trying not to yourself.

“We’re in this era where people want to judge other people,” Pujols says. “And that’s so sad.” He would like to leave it with those three words—that’s so sad—but then people might wonder.

So he continues: “But it’s like I always say, ‘Come and test me. Come and do whatever you want.’ Because you know what? There is something more important to me—my relationship with Jesus Christ and caring about others. More than this baseball. This baseball is nothing to me.“

This is the uneasy state of the new baseball hero. Albert Pujols knows he cannot prove to people that he has never used steroids. He knows that there will always be doubters. “Let’s say I retire 15 years from now,” he says. “They’re going to say, ‘Well, he probably did it back then. He just didn’t get caught.’ I know that’s what they’re going to say. And you know what, man? It is sad, but at the same time, it doesn’t matter. I know who I am. I don’t care.”

This is where Albert gets emotional. This does matter to him. He believes deeply that God has given him the baseball platform to do good work. He met his wife, Dee Dee, when he was just 18 years old. She thought he was 21—they met in a Kansas City dance club that was for people 21 and older. On their first date he admitted being only 18. She said that she had a baby daughter, Isabella, who had been born with Down syndrome. He was in high school, still a ways from the majors. They fell in love fast.

In those early years, Albert would babysit Isabella while Dee Dee worked one of her three jobs. She got him a job in a pizzeria, and he would dutifully give her every penny he made. When Pujols was drafted so low, he briefly considered giving up baseball and getting a job so he could help support Dee Dee and Isabella. After his one season in the minors, he got a part-time catering job at a Kansas City–area country club. “We didn’t have any money,” Albert says. “It was hard.” They spent $150 on their wedding. Their honeymoon was in Peoria, Albert’s first minor league stop.

Of course, this is a common tale—the story of a young couple trying to make it in baseball—but what strikes Dee Dee is how Albert seemed entirely driven to be something more than just a baseball star. He did not drink. He would not even be in the same room as a smoker. He did not get tattoos. He never wore an earring. He wasn’t interested in going out with the boys. He played baseball, and he went to church, and that seemed about all that interested him.

He has constantly denied using steroids. His reasoning has stayed consistent: “I fear God too much to do any stupid thing like that.” He also knows that more or less every player has denied using steroids. “We are under a dark cloud,” he says. “Nobody believes anything [players say].”

“You know how I want people to remember me?” Pujols asks. “I don’t want to be remembered as the best baseball player ever. I want to be remembered as a great guy who loved the Lord, loved to serve the community and who gave back. That’s the guy I want to be remembered as when I’m done wearing this uniform. That’s from the bottom of my heart.”

SO HERE’S that amazing Albert Pujols baseball hero story. Every year in St. Louis, there is a Buddy Walk to raise money and awareness for the National Down Syndrome Society. Pujols is the chairman of the St. Louis Buddy Walk, and every so often, as he fulfills his duties, a child with Down syndrome will ask him to hit a home run. Actually, kids ask him just about every year.

In 2002, 10-year-old Kathleen Mertz threw out the first pitch to Pujols on Buddy Walk Day. As he walked over to give her the signed ball, she said, “Hey, Albert, hit me a home run.”

In 2006 Pujols found himself swamped with home run requests as he strolled with the crowd during the Buddy Walk. One after another, kids shouted at him, “Hey, Albert, hit a home run for me.” “You’re my hero.” “You’ve got to hit a homer for me, El Hombre.” That night, he faced Pittsburgh’s Ian Snell, and Pujols did not waste any time. He hit a home run in the first inning. Then, in the third inning, he faced Snell again, and he hit another. In the fifth inning, he faced Snell one more time. And he homered again—Pujols drilled this one about 450 feet.

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Albert Pujols, Baseball, Cardinals, ESPN, steriods, The Cardinals