Did this really just happen?
That's the question most Cardinals fans were asking themselves on Thursday morning. I woke up on Thursday morning around 8am, in a good mood for many several reasons. I woke up not only realizing that today was the last day of the regular semester for my undergrad career, but also knowing that the Marlins were no longer in the running for signing Albert Pujols. Before leaving the house at around 8:40 A.M., I checked twitter to make sure there wasn't anything new on the Pujols contract negotiations, which there wasn't. After a 30 minute drive from Belleville to SIUE, I arrive in my class at approximately 9:30 A.M. Soon after sitting down in my seat, I pull my phone out of my jacket pocket (which was on silent) and I am greeted to about 7-8 text messages from various friends and family members. Here is a sample of what I was greeted with:
"Angels got him. 10 yrs, $250, damn."
"Pujols is gone. $250 deal with Angels"
"Pujols to the Angels. I will stay out of your way today."
"Pujols is not worth $250 mil. for 10 years. Let him go, I hope he stinks in Anaheim."
I got up out of my seat during a lecture and went into the hallway. Anger, sadness, and shock, that's the best way to describe exactly what I was feeling at that very moment. The face of the Cardinals franchise was gone. The man that I grew up watching for the past 11 years was gone. A man's legacy was gone. For what? A drop in the bucket for Albert Pujols?
As a fan, it makes me wonder whether he will later regret this decision. Not only did he leave a championship team, but he also left a legacy behind and that's something you cannot buy, even for an extra $44 million dollars.
