I Am Just Like Albert Pujols

The news I had been fearing came this morning: Albert Pujols, the premier baseball player of his generation, was leaving the St. Louis Cardinals, my St. Louis Cardinals, for the Los Angeles Angels. And why? Because they offered him somewhere in excess of $250 million dollars when the the Cardinals' offer was closer to $200 million.

Cardinal fans are passionate about baseball. The national media make much of (and I'm sure other teams' fans are tired of hearing about) the fact that Cardinal fans are "the best fans in baseball." I'll grant that it seems to be a pretty subjective designation, and I don't know what kind of barometer you might use to measure it. I can attest to this though: The spirits of an entire region invariably rise and fall with the performance of its baseball team.

I remember back in 1987 when the Cardinals lost first baseman Jack Clark to free agency the same week St. Louis lost our NFL team to Arizona. The newspaper ran a public opinion poll as to which was the more devastating loss, a first baseman leaving the baseball team or the ENTIRE football team leaving the city. Clark had only been in St. Louis for three years and was nowhere near the player Pujols is. He won in a landslide.

Anyway, as I've followed things on Facebook & Twitter, Cardinal fans are unsurprisingly distraught. Amidst their anguish, cries are arising over the unmitigated pride of Pujols. After all, isn't $200 million enough?

I too am saddened by the departure for a number of reasons. Not the least of these is the discussion it forces me to have this evening with a twelve year old son whose first words to me each day for the last month have been, "Any news on Pujols?"

This being said, I think to criticize Pujols for greed is a little off base. If anything, I think the operative sin here would not be greed, but pride. Ultimately, in his heart of hearts, my guess is that what Pujols wanted wasn't so much the extra $50 million, but the status that comes with having received such a large contract.

I am reminded of the words of C.S. Lewis from his book, Mere Christianity: 

Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone. That is why I say that Pride is essentially competitive in a way the other vices are not. The sexual impulse may drive two men into competition if they both want the same girl. But that is only by accident; they might just as likely have wanted two different girls. But a proud man will take your girl from you, not because he wants her, but just to prove to himself that he is a better man than you. Greed may drive men into competition if there is not enough to go round; but the proud man, even when he has got more than he can possibly want, will try to get still more just to assert his power. Nearly all those evils in the world which people put down to greed or selfishness are really far more the result of Pride.

Now, it's easy for me to be critical of the greedy man who wants another $50 million because I am not likely ever to find myself in such a situation.  But each day I am forced to do battle with my pride.  So as disappointed as I am that Pujols has left, I'm going to try to get my own pride issues taken care of before I start bashing him. And as soon as I think I've eliminated pride in my life, that will be the first indication I haven't.


***** CLARIFICATTION *****

There seems to be some confusion over what I was saying as some folks I have talked to thought that I was making precisely the opposite point I intended to make -- never a good thing for a communicator.

It was not my desire to suggest that Albert's decision was necessarily sinful. Rather, I was merely suggesting that it was my guess that whatever sin might be wrapped up in it would more likely be a sin of pride than of greed. As such, I hoped to demonstrate that we should probably refrain from being too critical of him as we all struggle with pride in its various manifestations. Hence the title of the post.

Albert Pujols on 60 Minutes

Last night on 60 Minutes there was a profile of Albert Pujols.  The story did a great job of displaying the fact that Pujols' greatness extends far beyond the baseball field.  If you haven't seen it yet, please take a moment, watch the video below, and see why I am quite satisfied to have Pujols be the player my son emulates.





Also, if you get the chance, take a look at the interview below with Draggan Mihailovich who produced the story and click here to see some other "extras" from 60 Minutes.

Pujols: More Than the Game

As I mentioned in a post last week, I am a huge fan of the St. Louis Cardinals in general and of Albert Pujols in particular.  For this reason, I was excited today to read about a new biography entitled Pujols: More Than the Game.  The book tells the story of baseball's biggest star.  Not satisfied to focus merely on the incomparable success that Pujols has enjoyed on the diamond, the book also delves into his life off the field and the Christian faith that stands behind it all.

I haven't read this book yet, but I look forward to doing so.  In the meantime, you should feel comfortable with the recommendation of noted blogger and book reviewer (among many other things), Tim Challies.

By the way, I strongly recommend that you check out Tim's blog, Challies.com.  Subscribe to it, like it on facebook, follow it on twitter or simply come back to it daily.  It is a treasure trove of information and wisdom.

Anyway, he had the following helpful thoughts in his review of the book:

This book is a wee bit formulaic...and it is occasionally a bit melodramatic...But it’s well-written and, for this baseball enthusiast, an interesting read.

Pujols is a baseball player and a Christian. This biography is likely to appeal largely to those who love Christ and (not or) those who love baseball. Being a fan of Pujols or the Cardinals will make it even more enjoyable. The season-by-season descriptions of Pujols’ feats are interesting to baseball fans, but will not play so well with those who who have no love for the game.

Suffice it to say, given these facts, I am sure to enjoy the book.  I hope you will too.

A Christian Reaction to Albert Pujols

Anyone who knows me fairly well knows how very passionate I am about the St. Louis Cardinals. And anyone who knows anything about the Cardinals knows that their best player is Albert Pujols.  Ten years into his career, Pujols' statistics are breathtaking. Three times he has been named the National League's Most Valuable Player, finishing second four other times. He is universally considered to be in select company as one of the greatest hitters that baseball has ever seen.

My household is populated by Albert Pujols fans. We love the fact that the best player plays for our team, but we also enjoy the fact that he has by all accounts been a pretty stand-up guy character-wise. But now Pujols is in the final year of a contract and negotiations for an extension with the Cardinals have broken off until after the season.

Some have been critical of the fact that Pujols (a professing Christian) has turned down the Cardinals' initial offers. Exact specifics are unavailable, but the Cardinals' proposals would (continue to) make Albert very wealthy, though not one of the highest paid players in the game. "How can a Christian be so greedy?" they ask.

My friend and fellow pastor Kevin Golden had a great post the other day in which he challenged us not to be quite so quick to point out the speck in Albert's eye. His whole post is well worth reading, and I suggest that you click here and do just that. But he sums things up quite well in his very helpful conclusion:

All of this is to say: yes, Pujols should contemplate how he can use his financial resources in a Godly way and that he not give offense by appearing greedy. And we should all do the same. One means by which my priorities in life are made evident is my checkbook. How I spend money reveals much about my truest and deepest allegiances, even betraying the false gods which I worship. Thus, rather than using Pujols contract negotiations as an opportunity to scrutinize him, let me first scrutinize myself.

Then, having faced my own sinful nature and being led to repentance by Christ, I will rejoice in Christ’s forgiveness, purchased at the cost not of gold or silver but His own precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. And so Christ’s priority becomes clear - He has done all this that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. That is Christian witness, not my use of financial resources, but Christ’s giving of His very self for the salvation of the world.