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Albert Pujols is the man on and off the field

I

isasir

Diamond Member
I saw this in the paper the other day and just thought it shows what an all-around awesome guy Pujols is. Here's hoping he can play again soon.

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His story: You're on your way to baseball stardom, and you meet a new single mom. You hit it off. During the conversation, the mom reveals that she not only has a daughter, but that the daughter has Down syndrome. Given the circumstance, wouldn't it be understandable if you turned the other way?

Not if you're Albert Pujols, the reigning National League MVP. Finding out about Isabella, now 8, only brought him closer to her mom, Deidre, who is now his wife.

The two first met just three months after Deidre became a mother for the first time. After Deidre told Albert about Isabella, she went to a doctor's office and picked up pamphlets about Down syndrome that were written in Spanish. The couple married shortly after, and Pujols adopted Isabella.

"From the first moment they saw each other, Albert and Isabella have had a special connection," Deidre says. "He loves to catch her eye, to make her smile." The couple now also have a son, A.J., 5, and a daughter, Sophia, 7 months.

When the family gathers for a meal, Pujols makes sure Isabella's place is set, that she has her juice. He rarely goes out of town in the off-season. That's his time to catch up with his family -- take them out to the movies or cook breakfast for them. And he loves making funny faces for young Isabella, causing her to dissolve into giggles.

"We didn't choose Down syndrome," says Albert, 26. "Down syndrome chose my family."

Pujols raises money to fight Down syndrome through charity dinners and a golf tournament, the latter raising more than $233,000 last year with the help of his pro sports agency, the Beverly Hills Sports Council. "When something impacts you at that level, it becomes pretty important," he says. "You just feel you have to do something."

Even though Deidre calls her life "a constant balancing act," the times when the baseball headlines do overlap with family life can be priceless. After Pujols hit a two-out home run against the Houston Astros last fall, one of the biggest postseason homers ever, he flew home on the team charter. At 4 a.m., he reportedly opened the front door of his home to find A.J. waiting for him.

"I love you, Dad," the boy said. "Glad you're home."

Then over his shoulder as he went upstairs to bed, Pujols' son said, "Nice home run."

Such are the rewards for dads who are always there.
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Originally posted by: j00fek
have to cover up that HGH some how 😛
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Ouch! Granted, if I had the money I would use hGH, too.

Regardless, Pujols . . . just like Bonds (earlier years) is a ridiculously talented baseball player. I don't care what these guys are taking . . . their achievements are outstanding.
 
The difference between Pujols and Bonds is that Pujols isn't a giant asshole. If Bonds was a nice guy that everyone liked I don't think the steroid investigation would be quite as in-depth as it is.
 
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