Albert Pujols slammed a homer and then a little bit later Wilson Betemit slammed into him. Now, every Cardinals fan is slamming their head against their desks as they await test results on Pujols’ injured wrist.
Now, before all you good people in the city of St. Louis go and address a bomb to Mr. Betemit and stick it in your nearest UPS drop box, know that the play couldn’t have been more clean on Betemit’s part. If anyone is to blame it is St. Louis second baseman Pete Kozma who came attempted to make a highlight reel play after backhanding Betemit’s grounder up the middle and making a jumping throw against his own momentum. Had his throw been just a touch stronger or a foot or so to the left, Pujols’ glove hand never would have been drawn into the basepath as Betemit came racing down it.
Instead, Betemit and the ball arrived at the exact same time, sending the ball and Pujols’ glove flying as he immediately grabbed his wrist in pain and Cardinal fans immediately grabbed the seat of their pants which not-so-coincidentally just filled up with a brown stinky substance.
Congrats, Pete Kozma, you are one bad MRI from spending the rest of your career trying to become something other than “The Guy that Broke Albert Pujols.” Good luck with all that.
As for the rest of the Cardinals, they best be hoping that whatever injury Pujols suffered proves to be minor. With the NL Central so tightly contested, losing Albert for an extended period of time could be a deathblow to their season and might even ignite a full blown rebuilding process.
Imagine, if you will, a Cards team without Pujols for the rest of this season, and potentially forever given his impending free agency. Do the Cardinals really take a chance that Pujols will not only fully recover from a potentially major wrist injury at age 32 but also re-up with St. Louis on a massive contract? Or do they just decide to cut their losses and begin life without Albert a few months early by selling high on Lance Berkman and getting what they can for Chris Carpenter before he completely destroys his trade value?
It may sound like a panic reaction, but with Adam Wainwright already lost for the season to Tommy John surgery and Tony LaRussa potentially retiring after the season, there may not be a better time for the Cardinals to hit the reset button and start building for the next generation. A generation without Albert Pujols.
Also last night: The Marlins still lost even though their manager quit before the game… Firing works better than quitting because the Indians axed their hitting coach before beating the Pirates… and finally, Jason Vargas spun a three-hit shutout to ruin the Father’s Day for the Phillies.
What to watch tonight: It may be a lopsided match-up on paper, but when the Padres come to Boston tonight, we get our first chance to see Adrian Gonzalez torture his former franchise and fans, taunting them with his potential Triple Crown bat and the big, expensive contract extension that the San Diego franchise knew they couldn’t give him. Full schedule with probable pitchers here.
