The Prince

Sometimes St. Louis gets hit by hurricanes. Given our landlocked position in the U.S., these hurricanes arrive only in the form of baseball-related monsters, altering the general mood of a city already prone to change based on the current box score.

This particular hurricane blew in out of nowhere, mostly from a westerly direction and an origination point known as Anaheim, California.

For years, Albert smoothly assured his faithful – his millions of faithful – that he wanted to retire a Cardinal, red jacket included. Who wouldn't? If we're all honest here, in a city that tends to value loyalty more than most other virtues, there haven't been more than a few disgruntled players who haven't wanted to retire a Cardinal. It's just a fact of life. And I really believed, and still do, that Albert Pujols meant what he said.

But then life changes, that proverbial curveball. Some folks blame the 254 million, or the ten years, or maybe even the change of climate. If that's one thing players don't like in St. Louis, it's probably the intense summer boil and/or, for those who take up permanent residence, the equally uncomfortable winter deep freeze. Freeze, not Freese.

When it all went down and the city erupted into one mass chaos of disbelief, anger, and regret, I remember wondering how Albert could leave all these guys who had become his family, his brothers. Probably especially Yadi: big-brother, little-brother. But I tend to think that we'll never really know why Albert left. Not in full. After all, it's in many ways a private decision. I'm sure many people would prefer – maybe especially after living in a floodlight for eleven years – to keep most personal matters close to the chest. And in the end, that's fair.

Although no matter what Albert Pujols accomplishes in his remaining seven, eight years in L.A., it can't match the moments he had, and the family he has, back home. This is nothing against the good fans of Anaheim. But you remember your roots and the people who helped raise you, and in a very real way, St. Louis did that for this big guy, still proud of that homegrown son they call Prince Albert.