I’m a die hard Cardinals fan and still have a Cards/Puljos t-shirt. I have to say, the Cards got the first.....and the best.....10 years of his career.
Last year when the Angels and the Cards had an inter-league series of 4 games, Mr. Puljos got a standing O every time he came to bat in St. Louis. Great man and a great fan base!
I am a Cards fan also. Pujols could not have stayed in St Louis because of the plantar facilitis. He had to get to a DH team. The surgeries on his feet obviously went well since he still plays, but he is the slowest runner in MLB now. Infielders can plan him on the outfield grass and cut off his hard shots. I heard him say once that he felt like he was walking on ice picks when his plantar facilitis was at its worst. Early in his career with St Louis he was an aggressive base runner, but that is long gone now.