Pujols eager to represent home country
01/15/2006
ST. LOUIS -- The past two years, Albert Pujols has been not only the most popular fan attraction at the annual Cardinals Winter Warm-Up, but the biggest story in the media room. This time around, the crowds were the same, but the chat with reporters was more like Albert Unplugged.
Pujols sat at a table and chatted for 45 minutes, holding court on topics from the success of his foundation to new teammates to his recent trip to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. He spent quite a bit of time discussing the World Baseball Classic, in which he will represent the Dominican Republic.
The National League MVP explained that he won't be changing his offseason routine one bit, despite the fact that he'll be representing his country a few weeks earlier than he normally represents his team.
"A lot of people, friends and media, asked me, 'Are you going to change your program?' " Pujols said. "My program is going to stay the same. I'm going to their program whenever I have to report to [Dominican Republic] camp. But I'm going to be in touch with Pete [Prinzi, the Cardinals' strength and conditioning coach] to make sure I do my running, make sure I do the things that my team is doing in Spring Training, because I want to make sure I get myself ready to go."
For Pujols, who does not play Winter League baseball in the Dominican, the WBC is a unique opportunity.
"I can't play in the Dominican [in the winter]," he said. "There's a lot of people who can play in the offseason down there. This is, for me, something that I can do so I can make up to my country, just to say, 'Hey, I don't have time in the offseason -- we have 162 games plus the playoffs, and I can't go play.' But definitely, I want to participate in this because this is big for me, and I'm pretty sure that's the same way a lot of the guys look at it: David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, [Miguel] Tejada. I don't get to play down there in the Dominican."
Pujols lives in the St. Louis area and has been in the States for about 10 years now, but he still feels deeply connected to the country where he was born and raised. He relishes the thought of stepping on a field with players like Tejada, Ortiz and Ramirez.
"I'm pretty sure it's going to be a big deal to us," said Pujols. "It's going to be a big deal to win. You're representing your country. It's almost like the Olympics. When you represent your country, you want to win. I'm pretty sure it's the same way the American side is going to look at it.
"We need to represent," Pujols said. "Any time you put that USA team name on your jersey, you want to make sure you represent your country the right way. And that's the same way I look at the Dominican. When we're wearing that Dominican uniform, we're going to represent it the right way, the way we know how to play the game."
Izzy's out: Unlike Pujols, Jason Isringhausen has elected not to play in the World Baseball Classic. He cited not only health concerns but a desire to get comfortable with a slew of new teammates in the St. Louis bullpen.
"I wanted to get to know everybody," said Isringhausen, who put his name in the pool for the U.S. team last year. "I didn't want to spend one week with them and then start a long season.
"Health, and I wanted to be with my team during Spring Training. When we signed up for this, it was the middle of last year, and nobody knew any of the particulars. We signed up to say they could ask us to play. And then when we found out we were only going to be in Spring Training for like a week, I [wanted] to be with my team. I don't want to be out, not being with my team and seeing who I'm going to be teammates with."
Suffice it to say that no one in the organization was heartbroken by Isringhausen's decision. The right-hander has battled arm trouble for much of his career.
"I called Walt [Jocketty, general manager] and told him I wasn't going to play, and he said, 'OK,' " said Isringhausen. "He said, 'Either way, whatever you do, I support you.' I said I wanted to be with my team."
Fighting for a job, part one: For the first time in seven years, Sidney Ponson will be in competition for a rotation spot when he reports to Spring Training. Ponson, two years removed from being a major free agent signing and the nominal No. 1 starter for the Orioles, will be competing for the No. 5 job in St. Louis.
"I had to fight for a spot in '99," he said. "But still, I just have to go and do what I need to do. Whatever they come up with, if [Anthony] Reyes is going to be the fifth starter, I'll go to the bullpen. I don't have a problem with that.
"I'm eight years, nine years in already. I just want to go to the World Series and win it all. If me being in the bullpen is going to make the team better, I'll do it."
Ponson said that if the Cards choose to bump him to the bullpen, he wouldn't complain. Jocketty told reporters on Saturday that using Ponson in relief was at least a possibility.
Fighting for a job, part two: Coming off a year in which he led the Pacific Coast League in strikeouts, Adam Wainwright has no guarantees of a roster spot. Once ranked as one of the team's top prospects, Wainwright appears to have been passed on the depth chart by Reyes.
For Ponson, the options are likely to start in the big leagues or relieve in the big leagues. But for Wainwright, it's probably relieve in St. Louis or start in Triple-A Memphis. That's an easy call for the right-hander.
"I go in thinking about whatever they'll let me do at the big-league level," Wainwright said. "You never know what happens. This is a funny game. Obviously, I've always been a starter. I love to start. But I also loved my time in the big leagues, and that's going to come first right now. I'm happy with whatever role they'll let me have at the big-league level."
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
ST. LOUIS -- The past two years, Albert Pujols has been not only the most popular fan attraction at the annual Cardinals Winter Warm-Up, but the biggest story in the media room. This time around, the crowds were the same, but the chat with reporters was more like Albert Unplugged.
Pujols sat at a table and chatted for 45 minutes, holding court on topics from the success of his foundation to new teammates to his recent trip to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. He spent quite a bit of time discussing the World Baseball Classic, in which he will represent the Dominican Republic.
The National League MVP explained that he won't be changing his offseason routine one bit, despite the fact that he'll be representing his country a few weeks earlier than he normally represents his team.
"A lot of people, friends and media, asked me, 'Are you going to change your program?' " Pujols said. "My program is going to stay the same. I'm going to their program whenever I have to report to [Dominican Republic] camp. But I'm going to be in touch with Pete [Prinzi, the Cardinals' strength and conditioning coach] to make sure I do my running, make sure I do the things that my team is doing in Spring Training, because I want to make sure I get myself ready to go."
For Pujols, who does not play Winter League baseball in the Dominican, the WBC is a unique opportunity.
"I can't play in the Dominican [in the winter]," he said. "There's a lot of people who can play in the offseason down there. This is, for me, something that I can do so I can make up to my country, just to say, 'Hey, I don't have time in the offseason -- we have 162 games plus the playoffs, and I can't go play.' But definitely, I want to participate in this because this is big for me, and I'm pretty sure that's the same way a lot of the guys look at it: David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, [Miguel] Tejada. I don't get to play down there in the Dominican."
Pujols lives in the St. Louis area and has been in the States for about 10 years now, but he still feels deeply connected to the country where he was born and raised. He relishes the thought of stepping on a field with players like Tejada, Ortiz and Ramirez.
"I'm pretty sure it's going to be a big deal to us," said Pujols. "It's going to be a big deal to win. You're representing your country. It's almost like the Olympics. When you represent your country, you want to win. I'm pretty sure it's the same way the American side is going to look at it.
"We need to represent," Pujols said. "Any time you put that USA team name on your jersey, you want to make sure you represent your country the right way. And that's the same way I look at the Dominican. When we're wearing that Dominican uniform, we're going to represent it the right way, the way we know how to play the game."
Izzy's out: Unlike Pujols, Jason Isringhausen has elected not to play in the World Baseball Classic. He cited not only health concerns but a desire to get comfortable with a slew of new teammates in the St. Louis bullpen.
"I wanted to get to know everybody," said Isringhausen, who put his name in the pool for the U.S. team last year. "I didn't want to spend one week with them and then start a long season.
"Health, and I wanted to be with my team during Spring Training. When we signed up for this, it was the middle of last year, and nobody knew any of the particulars. We signed up to say they could ask us to play. And then when we found out we were only going to be in Spring Training for like a week, I [wanted] to be with my team. I don't want to be out, not being with my team and seeing who I'm going to be teammates with."
Suffice it to say that no one in the organization was heartbroken by Isringhausen's decision. The right-hander has battled arm trouble for much of his career.
"I called Walt [Jocketty, general manager] and told him I wasn't going to play, and he said, 'OK,' " said Isringhausen. "He said, 'Either way, whatever you do, I support you.' I said I wanted to be with my team."
Fighting for a job, part one: For the first time in seven years, Sidney Ponson will be in competition for a rotation spot when he reports to Spring Training. Ponson, two years removed from being a major free agent signing and the nominal No. 1 starter for the Orioles, will be competing for the No. 5 job in St. Louis.
"I had to fight for a spot in '99," he said. "But still, I just have to go and do what I need to do. Whatever they come up with, if [Anthony] Reyes is going to be the fifth starter, I'll go to the bullpen. I don't have a problem with that.
"I'm eight years, nine years in already. I just want to go to the World Series and win it all. If me being in the bullpen is going to make the team better, I'll do it."
Ponson said that if the Cards choose to bump him to the bullpen, he wouldn't complain. Jocketty told reporters on Saturday that using Ponson in relief was at least a possibility.
Fighting for a job, part two: Coming off a year in which he led the Pacific Coast League in strikeouts, Adam Wainwright has no guarantees of a roster spot. Once ranked as one of the team's top prospects, Wainwright appears to have been passed on the depth chart by Reyes.
For Ponson, the options are likely to start in the big leagues or relieve in the big leagues. But for Wainwright, it's probably relieve in St. Louis or start in Triple-A Memphis. That's an easy call for the right-hander.
"I go in thinking about whatever they'll let me do at the big-league level," Wainwright said. "You never know what happens. This is a funny game. Obviously, I've always been a starter. I love to start. But I also loved my time in the big leagues, and that's going to come first right now. I'm happy with whatever role they'll let me have at the big-league level."
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home