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Albert Pujols war born in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. His father was in and out of his life from an
early age and so his grandmother took care of him. Growing up, Pujols were vert poor and lived in communal setting which resembled
a camp site. Albert's grandmother helped him a lot has a child. She treated him as her own child and passed on her religious
beliefs. Albert's father was well known around the Dominican Republic as a pitcher. Pujols did not have a favorite baseball
team when he was younger but his favorite player was Julio Franco. In the 90's the Pujol's move to New York to find a better
life but they underestimated how violent it would be. One day as Albert Pujols was running an errand he saw a man shot to
death. His grandmother demanded to move to a safer place. The family then moved to Indepedence, Missouri. Baseball dominated
every part of Albert life. He went to Fort Osage High School and worked hard to learn english and adjusted well to American
life. He was a great baseball player leading his high school baseball team to the state championship and started to attract
pro scouts. Later on he met his future wife Deidre at a club in Kansas City. Albert lied about his age to meet her and when
he told her he lied she told him about her daughter Isabella who had downed syndrome. he bonded immediately with the child
and Deidre was amazed with his maturity. Albert went to college at Maple Woods. In 1999, he hit .461 with 22 home runs and
80 RBIs. The St. Louis Cardinals drafted him in the 13th round. Pujols was disappointed that he did not go higher and rejected
the Cardinals offer of $10.000. Albert instead chose to play in the Jayhawk League and lived with his manager Frank Leo. Pujols
continued to develop as a player and at the end of the summer the Cardinals offered him $60,000 and he accepted. He then
went to Arizona for Instructional Fall Ball and learned how to play third base. Albert returned home that winter
and married Deidra. Albert started at Class A Midwest League with the Peoria Chiefs in 2000. By the end of the season Albert
was promoted to Triple A with the Memphis Redbirds. In January 2001, Deidra gave birth to Albert Jr.
in 2001, Pujols was able to join the Cardinals after Bobby Bonilla hurt his hamstring. Albert was put in the opening
day lineup against the Colorado Rockies and after that La Russa found it hard to keep him out of the lineup. He won rookie
of the year and was selected to the All-Star game and the Cardinals won the Wild Card with a 93-69 record but lost to the
Arizona Diamondbacks in 5 games in the Division Series. In 2002 Albert struggled by his standards hitting .280 by the All-Star
break. He was not discouraged though and wound up hitting .314 and the Cardinals blew away their division with a 97-65 record.
They lost to the San Francisco Giants in 5 games in the Championship Series. By 2003 Albert was a superstar in June his batting
average was .429 with some speculating him to hit over .400 for the year despite an elbow surgery. Even though the Cardinals
offense was one of the best in the league they failed to make the playoffs finishing 3 games behind the Chicago Cubs. In 2003
Pujols won the Hank Aaron Award. The Cardinals came back in 2004 as they won their division with a 105-57 record. Albert Pujols
and the Cardinals made it all the way to the World Series but were swept by the Boston Red Sox. Many did not expect the Cardinals
to win the Central Division again but they proved them wrong. They once again finished with the best record in baseball with
100 wins. They were the favorites to win the National League Pennant but were upset by the Houston Astros. One of the big
stories of the Championship Series was when Pujols hit a home run off Brad Lidge to stave off elimination. After that home
run Lidge was never the same with the Astros. 2005 was also the first year Pujols won his first MVP award. In November
Albert and Deidra had another child, a daughter named Sophia. The Cardinals had a new stadium in 2006 and Albert felt right
at home in it by becoming the first Cardinal to hit a home run in it. Alber was a front runner for the MVP award after he
broke the record for most home runs in April with 14. Later that year Albert was placed on the Disabled List for the first
time in his career. After that the Cardinals struggled even when Pujols returned and barely edged out the Astros and the Cincinnati Reds
with an 83-78 record. The Cardinals were the underdogs in the playoffs but upset both the San Diego Padres and the New York
Mets and made it to the World Series, They were once again the underdogs against the Detroit Tigers but after 5 grueling games
the Cardinals shocked the world by becoming World Champs. Albert set a new career high in homers that year with 49 and
celebrated the Cardinals 10th World Championship, the most in the National League. In 2007 the Cardinals struggled along with
Albert Pujols who had what most people call a "non Pujols year" with career lows in home runs, RBIs, and run scored. Even
though his numbers were down by his standards but were still All-Star worthy being the only Cardinal to make it along with
manager Tony La Russa. In 2008 the Cardinals shocked the baseball world again by competing in the much improved National League
Central. They finished the season with 86 wins, 8 more than in 2007. They finished 4 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in
the Wild Card Race because of a bullpen that blew 30 games. In 2008 Pujols won his second MVP award and had his 8th straight
season of 30 home runs. In 2009 the Cardinals are expected to be contenders and Pujols will continue his legacy as one
of the greatest baseball players of all time.
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