Ok, before everyone starts comparing Albert Pujols temperment to Barry Bonds’ (and believe it or not, I HAVE heard a few comparisons… arrrrghh), let’s take a reality check.
Permit me this scenario:
The Cardinals lose Game 1 of the NLCS. Pujols goes 0 for 3 and makes a rather uncharacteristically blundering baserunning at first.
Chances are, he’s not in a particularly cheerful mood.
Being one of the superstars on the team, he gets mobbed by the press. He gets asked a variation of the same question by reporter after reporter.
Do you think Glavine had great stuff? Or if it was a Newsday reporter, Glavine pitched a great game. What was it like to go down like that?
Pujols probably answered the “right way” nine times but the tenth time, he just blurted out how he felt. Which Pujols comment do you think made all the news?
When you attain the level of play that Pujols has, it doesn’t take much to take you down… at least in the media. Stupid Tim McCarver said during Albert’s second at-bat in Game 2, “Pujols hasn’t had a hit in the series.” So, in other words Tim, he just went one game without a hit.
Lisa Kennelly of the (NJ) Star Ledger went even further. After Pujols’ Game 1 perfomance, her article was entitled Pujols a shadow of the feared MVP. A little harsh for an 0 for 3 game.
Update: LaRussa is sticking up for Pujols and Pujols isn’t backing down from his comments.