Albert Pujols
Albert Pujols
José Alberto Pujols Alcántara, better known as Albert Pujols, is a Dominican American professional baseball first baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball. He previously played for the St. Louis Cardinals, where he received three National LeagueMVP awardsand was a nine-time MLB All-Star. He was also an All-Star with the Angels in 2015...
NationalityDominican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth16 January 1980
CitySanto Domingo, Dominican Republic
CountryDominica
I don't know why people say I'm not supposed to be doing what I'm doing. I'm just trying to do my job. I'm blessed, and I'm glad that I'm blessed.
I believe it is my responsibility to do what I can for children and people with Down syndrome as well as in my native Dominican Republic.
I have five young children, and I take being a role model very seriously.
I learned to play (baseball) on the streets in the Dominican Republic when I was 8 yrs old.
Preparation is very important. The pitcher is going to do his job and prepare for you so you as a hitter must do the same. I always watch videotape of pitchers before the game and even sometimes during.
I consider myself a line drive hitter with power. I just try to put my best swing on the ball every time.
When you get a walk-off homer, you get to do whatever you want. You need to be excited about it. You don't get too many of those, so you need to enjoy them when they come.
People from other teams want to play in St. Louis and they're jealous that we're in St. Louis because the fans are unbelievable. So why would you want to leave a place like St. Louis to go somewhere else and make $3 or $4 more million a year? It's not about the money. I already got my money. It's about winning and that's it. It's about accomplishing my goal and my goal is to try to win. If this organization shifts the other way then I have to go the other way.
What motivates me more than money are God and my family.
In my heart and mind, I know I can hit anybody. I'm always relaxed. It's hard to explain. It's like playing with my kids. It feels natural.
I thought about it a lot (losing the 2002 NLCS). It's something you have to go home and wrap it up because if you keep thinking about it, you're going to take that to Spring Training and you're not going to be able to concentrate on your work.
To me playing third base and left field and moving all over the place, it doesn't bother me because I still have to grab that bat and hit no matter where I play.
It doesn't matter the numbers, it doesn't matter the records, it doesn't matter the money that you make. What matters is to raise that trophy and to be able to bring that smile to the city of St. Louis.
I hope by the time that I'm done in this game, I can have half the numbers Stan Musial had in his career.