Well, June is almost over and the Albert Pujols Club has came along way.  We just want to give everyone a small update of what has happened and what is planned for the near future.  This month was pure advertising.  We went from 0 visitors to 53.  We’ve been added to several link directories, we were featured on deadspin.com as their "new favorite site".  APC added a very talented writer to the staff to give you the latest and greatest pujols news.  We’ve had interviews and are having articles written in the paper about us.  We sent Albert a "get well soon" card, never heard anything back.

So as you can see, things are happening!  We need to continue to grow memberships.  We can’t approach AP and say, "Hey, look, you have 53 fans!"  He’d laugh.  We need to have hundreds, Free, All-Star, MVP, who cares… Just need members.  Keep spreading the word and this will happen.

We plan on continuing our hardcore advertising in July.  We might email Deidre Pujols this month just to see if we get a response.  We’ll see.  Our goal is 100 members by the end of July.  In the near future we will provide a list of our All-Star and MVP members for everyone to see.

For you All-Star and MVP members.  Be excited.  We are working hard and still focused on making this happen.  We’ve made great strides and remember, you are a part of this event when it happens!  For the free members out there, consider upgrading now!  It’s still a bargain, $5 for All-Star and $10 for MVP status.  Remember as we get closer to making this happen, the membership prices could rise.  It wouldn’t be fair to those long time members who made the commitment early if the prices stayed the same.

Thanks to everyone for their support, and hopefully we’ll have another successful month at the Albert Pujols Club.

AlbertPujolsClub.com Staff

It should never take a grand total of eight games to break a losing
streak.  Just ask the Atlanta Braves, whose skid went all the way
to ten games before breaking into the win column.  The Cardinals
may have lost eight in a row, but the team is still in the division
lead.  It says something is seriously wrong with a team when it
still leads its division after losing eight straight.  What it
really says is that the team was absolutely stellar before the slump.  That’s the truth too, because looking back at the Cardinals season, it’s easy to say that they were a stellar team. 
On Wednesday night, the  St. Louis Cardinals showed their stellar
side once more, fighting to the finish to beat the Cleveland Indians
with a score of 5-4.  While the game was won on an error that
allowed Aaron Miles to score the game-winning run, it can be said that
because Eckstein hustled to first base, the Cardinals won. 

Hustle.  That’s exactly what some have been saying this team lacked.  Hustle
is what Albert Pujols does when he runs from first to third after
coming off the Disabled List.  Hustle is Aaron Miles still running
full force to home on that play, knowing easily that Eckstein could
have been thrown out.  Hustle is Albert Pujols climbing
over the dugout wall and running all the way to cheer on his teammates
as the game was won in the bottom of the ninth.

Unfortunately,
that was about as much action as Pujols took part in during the game on
Wednesday.  Pujols only got on base once, via a walk.  His
five-game hitting streak came to an end, but he has been on base in all
but one game since he returned.  After finishing 0-3 against the
Indians, it was still obvious that Pujols’ timing was still way
off.  It could be said that his 4 for 4 night was just luck,
considering that his swings have looked strangely off balance since
then.  Pujols did that his timing would be back in a week or two,
so it’s important to give him time.

The Cardinals’ timing is
farther off than Pujols’ is, though.  It took eight games to get a
win, and naturally, it’s a night that Pujols went 0 for 3 at the
plate.  Luckily for the Cards, the Royals are coming to town, and
after that, it’s back to the National League, where everyone else is
struggling as much as St. Louis is. (That is, except for the Mets)

Written by APC Staff Writer Brady Holzhauer

It isn’t always sunny in the Gateway City, and if you ask the St. Louis Cardinals, when it rains, it pours.  The ‘Birds lost their 8th straight game on
Tuesday night after falling behind early against the Cleveland
Indians.  The 3-1 loss brought no good news to the Cardinals,
whose fans have become extremely restless.  The questioning of
upper management has already began, and many are hoping for a
blockbuster trade.  Besides the Cardinals’ recent losing ways,
only one thing remains constant:
Albert Pujols’  bat.

There
are several key factors to be pointed out here, one of which is the
fact that St. Louis is 0-6 since Pujols’ return.  It’s essential
to address that this is not Pujols’ fault.  "El Hombre"
has been very consistent since his return.  After a 4-4 night with
a home run, two singles, a double, and a walk, Albert is on a 5-game
hitting streak.  While his base hits haven’t piled up much like
his 4-hit night, he has been getting on base quite often.  Within
this fact lies the problem: no one is bringing him home.

The
Cardinals have a major problem.  Once the opposing pitcher gets
past David Eckstein, whoever the two-hole hitter is, Albert Pujols, and
Scott Rolen, there isn’t a whole lot of threat.  Juan Encarnacion
has vastly underperformed after coming off a 14-game hitting
streak.  One fan compared his struggles at the plate to "trying to
hit a truck driving down the middle of the strike zone and missing."

While
Albert Pujols continues to put the bat on the ball, it’s easy to say
his timing isn’t completely back.  Barring his 4 for 4 game, he
hasn’t shown his home run swing very often.  It could be a matter
of Albert not trying to swing for the fences every at-bat, or he just
doesn’t have his timing back.  It seems as if he’s trying to get
on base for someone else to bring him to the plate, but barring Scott
Rolen, no one else is getting the job done.  It will either take a
move by upper management or a shakeup of the lineup to get this team
moving again.  Some have suggested that Pujols move to the cleanup
role and put Rolen back in the three-hole, which would possibly put
more men on for Albert.  Rolen does get on base consistently, so
that would give Pujols the opportunity to swing for the fences again…with men on base.

Tonight’s
matchup once again does not favor Pujols, as Jake Westbrook take’s the
mound for the Cleveland Indians.  Albert hasn’t had a whole lot
success against Westbrook, yet then again he hasn’t had many at-bats
against the starter, either. Chris Carpenter looks to turn things
around for the Cardinals tonight, hoping to prevent the Cardinals
getting swept for the third straight series.

Written by APC Staff Writer Brady Holzhauer
NOTE:
I’d like to personally thank the Deadspin.com staff for listing APC as
their "new favorite site".  Unfortunately, shortly after this, APC
was hacked.  We are taking measures to prevent future problems
like this.  Everyone, spread the word about AlbertPujolsClub.com,
and thanks for visiting.

The St. Louis Cardinals may have lost their 7th straight game, but Albert Pujols further traveled up  his path to complete recovery by continuing a four game hit streak.  Pujols went 1-4 with a walk in St. Louis’s disappointing 10-3 blowout loss to the Cleveland Indians on Monday. 

Pujols hit a single to left field in his first at-bat of the game, and managed to advance to second after Scott Rolen singled up the middle.  Continuing the Cards’  woes was Juan Encarnacion, who popped out to shallow left field to end the inning.  In Pujols’ next at-bat, he walked on four pitches.

The Cardinals continue to be dominated by the opposing American League teams, but Pujols is slowly working his way back to reality.  He has 7 hits in his last 5 games, and a four game hitting streak going.  The first game, he went 4-4 with two singles, a double, a home run, and a walk.  He batted his way to a single in the next three games with a few walks mixed in.

Pujols is coming back, but that 4-4 night against Detroit showed that he is already showing signs of the Albert Pujols we saw earlier this season.  Tonight, Albert takes on the Cleveland Indians again, a matchup that doesn’t favor Pujols.  Pujols is hitless in two at-bats against Cleveland pitcher C.C. Sabathia, both of those at-bats ending in strikeouts.  Tonight, Pujols looks to change that stat. 

Written by APC Staff Writer Brady Holzhauer

Expectations were already high for Albert Pujols as he came of the Disabled List last Thursday.  When he went 0-4, the expectations were lowered.  No, no one thought he’d come in slamming two home runs into the stands, but a lot of us just expected him to come out the way he left—on fire. 

On Friday night, Albert showed that the possibility of doing just that was there.  He did the exact opposite of what he did on Thursday, going 4-4 with two singles, a double, a walk, and in the ninth inning, his 26th homer of the year.  It was a great moment in a very lackluster week for the Cardinals.

In the next two games after his offensive explosion, Albert has quieted down a little bit.  Two straight games he has gone 1-4 at the plate, both hits being singles.  His timing was a little off Saturday against Kenny Rogers of Detroit and again today against Jeremy Bonderman. 

Not to worry though, because I didn’t expect him to go 4-4 every night.  But on a positive note, at one time during this Detroit series, Pujols was on base after 7 straight at-bats.  That’s pretty good after just coming off the DL.

Pujols will get better.  The question is, can his team ever pick up the pace?  A six game losing streak has hampered all talk about Pujols’ comeback.  The Cardinals lost every game of this road trip against the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers.  The team now opens a homestand that features the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals.  The Indians are struggling as of late, and the Royals have been pretty much horrible all season long.   Then again, the Cardinals definitely won’t underestimate either team after the punishment they took these last two series.  The ‘Birds got their tails kicked OFF and then handed back to them.  Let’s hope things get better for Pujols and Co.

Written by APC Staff Writer Brady Holzhauer
On a personal note, I’d like to thank APC for this great opportunity.  Thank you for the chance to write about Albert Pujols even more, and I’d like to thank the readers for the nice comments.  Hopefully the Cards can get everything sorted out since AP is back…
GO CARDINALS!

It came as quite a surprise to me that Albert Pujols (shown above throwing one of the first pitches in the new Busch)  was in the starting lineup on Thursday.  What didn’t come as a surprise to me was that he went 0-4 in the game.  There is no way anyone can come back from two-three weeks away from playing baseball without seeing any live pitching and be successful.  Even Albert himself stated that it would be a week or so before he got his timing down.  Ladies and gentlemen, I hate to say it, but Albert lied.

Albert started his day off patiently, drawing a walk in the first.  Later in the game, he got his first base hit after coming off the DL.  That single was followed by a line drive out to right field in his next at-bat, or so we thought.  Off the bat I thought it was gone, but Magglio Ordonez caught the ball, but after hitting the outfield wall during the catch he dropped it.  Pujols, thinking the ball was caught, didn’t get around first base in any hurry.  Luckily, he slid into second base and was safe.  Unfortunately, he slid past the ball and was tagged out.  They gave him a double, though.  In his next at-bat, Albert hit another single.  So far on the day, he was 3-3 with a walk. 

Finally, in the top of the ninth, as the Cardinals’ struggles continued (The Tigers were up 10-5), Albert came up to the plate with two outs.  He has had success against the Detroit pitcher Todd Jones, being 4-5 with two homers.  He was waiting on the right pitch.  I’d say he got it. 

"He got all of that pitch!  It’s back, back, and kiss it goodbye! Welcome back, Albert Pujols!  That solo shot puts him back in the Major League lead with 26 homers…what a day for Albert Pujols, what a day!"

Going 4-4 with two singles, a double, a solo home run, and a walk is a great performance.  Albert finished a triple shy of the cycle.  Unfortunately,  this was all in a losing effort.  The American League is simply dominating the National League this year.  One good note about the Cardinals’ horrid performance on this road trip as that the AL won’t be holding down Mr. Pujols.  He’s back and here to stay.  Timing be darned.  He doesn’t need to work on timing any more, after tonight’s game, he’s on FIRE. 

Written by APC Staff Writer Brady Holzhauer

 He is the epitome of superstars.  He is the greatest baseball talent in the last forty years, if not ever.  He swings the bat with a mission in every plate appearance.  He works as hard as anyone in the history of the game.  His defense is improving at such a pace that some predict him to win a Gold Glove award this year.  He’s won an MVP, a batting title, and the hearts of Cardinals fans all over the world.  People of all ages can be seen sporting a Pujols shirt on their back all around the country every day.  There is only one Albert Pujols.  His caring personality, attitude, approach, talent, work ethic, and love for the game are unmatched.  They will always be unmatched.

It wasn’t long after the 2006 season began that the whole baseball world started to unfold.  There are names, plenty of them, that have been listed in the same sentence with "steroids" or "human growth hormones".  We all know about that guy who plays for the Giants and how he is fighting speculations about steroid use all the time—and the evidence is there.  Then, one unfortunate day, Albert Pujols became a target.

From day one of his baseball career, dating all the way back to high school, Albert Pujols has been a pretty darn built.  He looks like an NBA power forward, much less an MLB first baseman.  He has pure, need I say "natural" strength that I haven’t seen in some time.  His home runs are not cheap ones, about 90% of them going deep into the stands, and of course he has a few triple-deck shots, much like his game winner on April 16th against the Reds.  All of this, and Albert Pujols still has untapped potential—at least he does if you were to ask him if he did.

Pujols’ approach to the game is simple:  work hard, and fix any and every hole in your game.  One thing Albert doesn’t have in his approach is "win at all costs".  One could call it something like "win at all moral costs". 

The reality and truth to the steroid era of baseball is that every single player is guilty until proven innocent.  It’s extremely sad that it’s reached this new level of mistrust, but it’s reality.  Each and every one of the Cardinals fans in the world wants to believe Albert Pujols is completely free of performance enhancing drugs.  I believe he is, and you believe he is, but we don’t know that he is.  It’s tough, but it’s real. 

As Pujols come back from his strained right oblique, it’s nice to see him struggling at the plate.  I say this because rumour has it that Human Growth Hormones (HGH) improves muscle performance and vision.  If he was on HGH, he’d be able to see those breaking balls a little bit better, wouldn’t he?  If he was on steroids, wouldn’t that shot to left field he hit yesterday have been a home run?  That little extra push it supposedly offers should have made him a hero yesterday.  That’s the beauty of it though…he doesn’t want to be a hero just on the baseball field…Albert Pujols wants to be a hero off the field.  This is why I believe that we know that Jose Alberto Pujols is 100% clean.  To the heartless doubters and skeptics, they only have physical proof.  To the fans and believers in Albert Pujols—his actions on and off the field are enough evidence. 

Written by APC Staff Writer Brady Holzhauer

    At about, say, 5 o’clock in the afternoon on Friday, the St. Louis Cardinals fan base went beserk. 
It was all over the forums, chats, and blogs within minutes.  A
St. Louis area radio station had reported that Albert Pujols had been
activated by the St. Louis Cardinals and was in the starting lineup against the hot swinging Chicago White Sox.  This news brought the most mix reactions one may ever see. 

   
The fair-weather fan was very happy Pujols was back, most likely for
his fantasy team’s success.  Pujols is the best hitter in baseball
after all, and we all know it.

   
Your everyday Cardinals fan was pleased that Pujols was playing,
because they knew it helped the Cards chances of winning. 

    The die-hard fans, much like myself, were extremely worried
about this decision.  Wasn’t this injury supposed to keep Pujols
on the bench for 4-6 weeks?  Why is he playing after exactly 15
days on the DL? 

    As we can already
assume, Albert is half-man, half freak-of-nature.  He is a
superstar baseball player, and apparently we now know he has healing
powers.  Coming back after just over 2 weeks, Pujols looked
healthy as he could be.  His comeback would only be hampered by
his mental approach. 

    In his first
at-bat, Albert Pujols looked like the Albert Pujols of old.  He
hit a pitch hard to left field that looked gone off the bat, but
unfortunately it was caught in deep left field.  After that,
Pujols looked very uncomfortable at the plate.  His timing was way off. 
If anything about his plate appearances remained the same from earlier
this season, it was his discipline.  I can only remember one pitch
where Albert looked bad with his swing. 

   
When I talk about timing, you have to look at the results of his
at-bats.  He flew out to deep left, and grounded out several
times.  In every one of those plate appearances, it seemed like
Pujols was way out in front of those pitches, swinging too early. 

    These things may be tough on Albert now, but they mean absolutely nothing. 
Albert’s swing can’t be perfect after a two week layoff.  He needs
to get back into the flow of things, and while it may seem to be bad
that he’s coming back so early, it may turn out to be a good
thing.  If he can come in early and get his timing down, we may
still see him hitting 50-60 homers this season.  Let’s just
hope—and pray—that Albert’s injury stays about as far away from him  as the
Pirates are from the division lead. 
   
    Written by new APC Staff Writer Brady Holzhauer
   

Will Albert return this week? With a tough AL stretch coming up, will Albert be back to help lead the Cardinals? Or will he wait until after the road trip and return next week. He has been taking ground balls, and has now started taking batting practice. We here at APC are very excited for word of AP’s return!!

- APCman