If you haven’t haven’t heard already, Albert Pujols played second base today for the St Louis Cardinals. No, it’s not one of LaRussa’s crazy moves though when I first heard about this, that’s the first thing that crossed my mind. No, to put it simply, injuries forced the move. From MLB.comS:
The game ended with Pujols playing second base, the result of an injury to Cesar Izturis. The shortstop was hit by a pitch in the top of the ninth, and had to come out of the game. Because the Cardinals had only Yadier Molina left on the bench, Molina came in to catch, Jason LaRue played first base, Pujols moved from first to second and Aaron Miles moved from second to shortstop.
I got a few emails about this today. See, Albert is on my APBA league team and his appearance at second base today will allow me to do the same next year. Good.
In 2002, Pujols played two innings at shortstop so playing middle infield is not new. That said, he was lucky enough not to have the ball hit to him then. Apparently today, he had one total chance (and no error!).