ST. LOUIS — After he decides to hang up his spikes for good, Albert Pujols will have a short, 5-year wait until he heads into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. But for now, he's back in St. Louis for one last ride as a Cardinal.
The Cardinals introduced Pujols on Monday after signing him to a 1-year deal for 2022.
Pujols, 42, is likely to see time as a designated hitter and pinch hitter with the Cardinals in 2022, in what he has said will be his final MLB season.
Pujols will be managed by a man seven years his younger, Oliver Marmol. Marmol will have the unique task of utilizing the slugger as best as he can.
So with Pujols back in town, 5 On Your Side's Frank Cusumano stopped in to chat with Cardinals Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog, to see what he had to say about the reunion, and how Herzog would use Pujols in his lineup.
"I think it's the greatest PR thing in the world. Not only to bring him back, the Pujols family has done so much for charities, the 11 years Albert has put up here, I was sorry to see him leave. I always said he had to be the unhappiest millionaire in the world when he went to Anaheim. Because when he came to the ballpark in St. Louis for 11 years, with the years he put up, he was a god. People looked at him like he was the second coming of Jesus Christ. He was that outstanding of a ballplayer, as a person and as a good teammate," Herzog said. "And the one thing he will add to the Cardinals will be the fact that he will be good on the bench talking to the young players. I think he's really responsible for Yadi being the hitter that he is. He worked with Yadi so much as a youngster. I think that people respect Albert in so many ways that they'll listen to him. So I think that's good."
So, how would one of the greatest baseball minds in St. Louis history use Pujols and his current skillset?
"I'm gonna tell you what I would do with Albert. I'd make him my spot man and I'd keep him on the club. I would not DH him. Because if you do DH him and he gets on base, he's gonna clog the bases. You might want to put in a pinch runner if it's in the sixth inning in a tight ballgame. But if you keep him on the bench, where they bring in a left-handed pitcher and all of a sudden you've got a situation with the bases loaded and one out in a 1-1 ballgame, I'd have Albert up there. Because he can still hit left-handed pitching pretty well," Herzog said.
Herzog said the thought of Pujols looming to face that opposing lefty late in the game could make a genuine impact.
"I would save him. I'd make him my secret weapon. Like Oquendo used to be, in a different way than Albert would be. But he'd be on that bench. You dare bring in a left-handed reliever with Albert sitting there in the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth inning, he'd be up there in a crucial time and I think I'd give him every opportunity to be successful," Herzog said.
Herzog also talked a bit about the current state of baseball, and how the game is in need of some adjustment to make it fan-friendly again.
"We've got to realize that in spite of the fact that it's supposed to be the national pastime, the product's not very good," Herzog said. "When a person goes to a ballgame at 7:15 in the evening, and they don't get home until midnight, that's not good. And every night when you see there's 340-360 pitches thrown in a 9-inning game, there's 20-25 strikeouts, there's another 10 or 15 3-2 counts besides the strikeouts, mix in eight or 10 walks between the two teams, that's not something people want to watch. We've got to make the product better."