Cardinal slugger Albert Pujols was surrounded in midfield by a trio of younger Cubs players: Christopher Morel, Nelson Velazquez and Franmil Reyes.
“He’s one of the best guys in the Dominican [Republic],” Morel, a fellow Dominican ballplayer, told the Sun-Times of their pregame talk this week. “Having the time to say hello is super special to me.”
Pujols’ farewell tour and quest for 700 career home runs converged this week at Wrigley Field during a five-game run between the Cubs and Cardinals. He registered homer No. 693 in Monday’s series opener.
Amid the home run countdown and Pujols’ final trip to Wrigley as a player, his influence over the course of a 22-year career was also seen. Take his warm greeting from Zach McKinstry of the Cubs, a short-time teammate of the Dodgers, at second base Tuesday as another example.
Said Cubs outfielder Rafael Ortega, who overlapped with Pujols on the Angels in 2016: ”When you said ‘Pujols’ to me, it’s unbelievable. His career, as a person, as a player, everything, Pujols has been an example for all Latin American players.”
Outfielder Ian Happ witnessed the pull of Pujols firsthand when he held the field at this year’s Home Run Derby – Happ served as Kyle Schwarber’s “towel man” in the event – and in a pregame talk for the All- Star Game the next day.
“It was great to see how much fun he had,” Happ said. “And for a man who has accomplished so much in the game and been around so much, played with so many guys, it seemed like he was really humiliated by . . . experience that. It felt like he was enjoying every second.”
It didn’t seem to matter that Pujols, an 11-time All-Star, had soaked up many such moments before.
“I think that’s the most important thing I learned from him: how he loved the game,” Ortega said. “Because it’s a hard game and you’re going to have some bad times. But to have [success], you have to love what you do. And if you love what you do, your bad times will be less than your happiest.”
As the final season of his career draws to a close, Pujols plays as well as anyone else — literally. He won the co-National League Player of the Week honors last week by going 8-for-13 with three homeruns and seven RBI.
He then came to Wigley and delivered the lone point of the game on Monday. The pitch he hit was a sinker at about eye level, seemingly safely out of the strike zone.
“It’s right where I was trying to throw it, maybe a little more to jam him a little more,” southpaw Drew Smyly said after the game. “I was thinking, ‘Just change his eye level and don’t let him touch it.’ ”
Morel was impressed.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. This pitch, from a lefty, and he made good contact with left field and homered? That’s why his nickname is “The Machine.” ”
Pujols’ homer Monday was his first against Smyly. With this, he tied the record of Barry Bonds with homeruns against 449 pitchers.
“He’s Albert Pujols,” Smyly said. “He’s the GOAT. He is one of the greatest of all time. And he finally got me.”
Now, with two games left in the series and about six weeks left in the regular season, Pujols is seven home runs away from 700. Morel told Pujols Monday that he hoped he would reach the milestone before retiring.
Happ, who hit 100 career home runs on Sunday, took a moment to think about what that would mean.
“That’s a hard number to fathom,” he said. ”Seven hundred? Oof.”