Cardinals caravan remembers Albert Pujols on 43rd birthday

Albert Pujols celebrated his 43rd birthday on Monday, the same day the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated their fans with the final day of Winter Warmup and their Cardinals Caravan tour.

The Caravan made its stop in Cape Girardeau on Monday bringing alums Jason Motte and Kerry Robinson, young stars Nolan Gorman and Matthew Liberatore, and the local kid, James Naile.

From Robinson’s first year in St. Louis in 2001, through Motte’s tenure with the Cardinals in the late 2000s, all the way to his final season in 2022, each member from the caravan played alongside Pujols.

And each of them carries a special memory from sharing the diamond with him.

Even before leading the Cardinals to their most recent World Series championship in 2011, Motte fondly recalls a time when Pujols called his shot in Wrigley Field in 2010 and went beyond.

“We were in Chicago one day and he had a rough go at it,” Motte said. “I think he had a couple of days where he was struggling. He comes in the clubhouse after [batting practice] and before he heads out he said, ‘Guys listen, I’ve been struggling. I’m gonna hit two home runs today.’ We were like, ‘cool, man. Whatever.’”

On May 30, 2010, Pujols went 3-for-4 with three home runs and four RBIs in a 9-1 Cardinals win.

“He goes out and does it,” Motte said. “That’s pretty cool.

“I had a chance to play with Albert for about three years,” he added. “Just seeing the things he did at the ballpark, showing up every day, working hard, constantly getting better even though he was already the best in the league. He was never satisfied.”

Gorman, Liberatore, and Naile all made their big league debut during Pujols’ final season last year. Naile fondly remembered being welcomed by not just Pujols, but Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright. The legends that he grew up watching in Charleston were now his teammates in St. Louis.

“You gotta pinch yourself when you enter the clubhouse sometimes,” Naile said. “All the guys were incredible. They welcomed me with open arms and they respected me and obviously, I respected them. Those guys are all who you think they are. They’re all leaders off the field and on the field they’re ultimate competitors, so getting to meet your heroes, it was pretty cool.”

“This past year was super fun,” Gorman said. “Just being able to see the history of those two guys [Pujols and Wainwright] and learn and get a better understanding of how they played the game and go about their business, what’s made them successful for so long, was huge for me for sure.”

Gorman and Liberatore were there to see Pujols finish his career with 700 home runs, a milestone that is among the rarest in baseball history.

“To hit that milestone, he’s already got 3,000 hits, that milestone of 700, only a few guys have ever done that,” Gorman said. “To see that happen was pretty special.”

Coming from the end of his decade-long tenure with the Los Angeles Angels, followed by a short stint with the Dodgers, Pujols returned to St. Louis to finish what he started.

It was rough at the beginning, as he entered the All-Star Break with only six home runs and a .215 batting average.

After a surprisingly strong showing in the Home Run Derby, Pujols turned his season around by batting .323 with 18 home runs to clear the benchmark in the final stretch.

“There were a lot of people who doubted his ability to come back, be productive,” Liberatore said, “and he proved everybody wrong. That whole year, in my opinion, was pretty special.”