A very interesting article is going to come out in the next issue of Sports Illustrated.
We're in an investigative era where every reporter in the country is searching for the next superstar to nab with steroid allegations. Instead, Joe Posnanski sought Albert Pujols to find a baseball story "the nation could believe in." The story isn't available as of yet (not that I could find), but snippets were released to the Associated Press and can be read at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website.
Pujols has said over and over that he is and has always been clean. He's never been shy to talk about PEDs. He told reporters that he had sympathy for Barry Bonds a few years ago. He criticized ARod last month. And now, with disappointment after disappointment from ballplayers current and past, Albert has once again claimed his innocence.
“… They’re going to say, ‘Well, he probably did it back then. He just didn’t get caught.’ I know that is what they’re going to say. And you know what, man? It is sad, but at the same time it doesn’t matter. I know who I am…”
I like it. And I have to be honest -- when the Mitchell Report was released, I wouldn't have been surprised to see his name on the list. No name would've surprised me. Just how the era was. And when Gammons suggested that the other 103 names on the ARod list would be released soon, I was afraid Pujols might show up. The list isn't out yet, so I guess it's still possible, but I can't imagine him allowing an article like this with any chance at all of a story to come out.
Anyway, there certainly had to be players doing the right thing for the past 20 or whatever years. And I'd be thrilled if no one could ever find anything to taint Albert's legacy. I'm sure there are reporters who are assigned solely to El Hombre -- ready to find something in his past to blow up.
He'll have doubters forever and that's something no one can fix. But if they find nothing, comparing his stats to users would truly make him memorable -- especially considering he hit off pitchers who were likely using too.
Now all we have to worry about is the SI cover jinx. But he's been there before.
I'll leave with the best quote of all...
“You know how I want people to remember me?” the reigning MVP says in the seven-page article. “I don’t want to be remembered as the best baseball player ever. I want to be remembered as a great guy who loved the Lord, loved to serve the community and who gave back. “
1 comments:
You've made me want to read the article. You're right, there will always be doubters, but he seems very genuine. And I love your last quote.
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