Tis article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 2, 2011 - Another day, another headline-grabbing St. Louis Cardinals event.
With David "MVP" Freese signing baseballs at Macy's Galleria tonight at 6 p.m., perhaps we should call it "Shopping Mall Wednesday" in this Cardinals World Series championship week.
This morning at Westport Plaza, Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols was immortalized in mid-career when a 10-foot bronze sculpture of Pujols pointing skyward was unveiled. Was it an early dress rehearsal for an eventual Busch Stadium statue dedication?
The impressive sculpture, all 1,100-pounds of it balanced on the toes of one home plate-touching foot, stands in front of Pujols 5 restaurant and in close proximity to the Pujols Family Foundation, also at Westport. The foundation owns the statue.
Casually dressed and displaying the bliss of someone who just won a World Series ring, Pujols addressed the crowd for about 10 minutes. He thanked the fans, about 20-deep in some spots, and called St. Louis the best baseball city in the country. As the crowd chanted phrases like, "Stay Albert Stay" and "Come Back, Come Back!" Pujols got choked up, saying "I don't want to cry in front of you guys!"
As expected, the free agent did not address his pending decision about signing a new contract. He did take questions from emcee McGraw Milhaven of KTRS, talking glowingly of his father-figure manager Tony LaRussa and his new "King of St. Louis" rival, teammate Freese.
The statue was funded by an anonymous out-of-town donor who chose the pose and worked closely with Pujols and sculptor Harry Weber. While he is portrayed in uniform, the statue represents Pujols' Christian faith more than it does his baseball exploits, said Pujols.
"It's nice to hit home runs, but I want to be remembered as a strong Christian guy," said Pujols, who will fly to his native Dominican Republic next week to do more foundation work. "When I point to the sky it's not about me - it's about Jesus Christ and glorifying him."
Pujols and his family were joined at the event by Cardinals Hall of Famer Lou Brock, who mingled with the overjoyed crowd in the minutes before the unveiling.
In the front row of the crowd was a small but vocal Hispanic contingency. Longtime fans Martha Castellanos and Elena Garcia-Kenyon were unambiguous in their preference for Pujols staying a Cardinal.
"I am here to support him and I'm proud to be from the Dominican Republic!" said Castellanos.
"The Hispanic community is praying for Pujols to stay in St. Louis - no other uniform belongs on him!" said Garcia-Kenyon, who would later make Pujols chuckle by shouting "Gracias a tu familia!"
Weber, based in Wright City, is well-known here for his sculptures of Cardinals legends at Busch Stadium's Plaza of Champions and the heroic-scale Lewis and Clark sculpture on the riverfront. His next major sculpture will be of Dred and Harriet Scott, to be unveiled on the east side of the Old Courthouse by this time next year.
"Albert is just a very nice, fun man who truly believes God has a plan for him," said Weber, who grew up a Browns fan before switching to the Cardinals. "I'm optimistic he'll stay since I know how much he and Dee Dee love St. Louis. I hope he stays because I'd like to be the one who does the statue when they put one up at Busch."
Note: Limited edition replicas of the statue are being sold to raise money for the Pujols Family Foundation. Two sizes of bronze maquettes and copies of Weber's original sketch of the sculpture are available for purchase through Fine Art, Ltd. (www.fineartlimited.com, 636-537-1500).
Matthew Fernandes is a freelance writer.