If Albert Pujols decided to retire in 2011 after playing a decade in St. Louis he would have been a first ballot hall of famer. After a decade with the Angels, Pujols will still be in Cooperstown when he is done playing. But his decade out west led to one playoff appearance and zero wins. While he continued to hit home runs, Pujols was never the same player he was with the Cardinals. Hitting .198, and a shell of what he once was, the Angels are parting ways with the slugger. No one can blame Pujols for taking the money offered and moving from one of the great baseball towns to a team that can never compete for the spotlight with the Dodgers. But had the Cardinals and Pujols figured out how to keep him in St. Louis, yesterday would have been a day of tears in celebrating one of the great careers in baseball history. Instead, it was a byline at the bottom of the ESPN screen. The stats make it a non-shocking decision by the Angels but one of the great home run hitters was told he was no longer needed. As for the Angels, they haven't had a winning record since 2015. Mike Trout has 12 post-season at-bats. He is in the third year of his $426.5M contract and he is playing meaningless baseball in a market where no one pays attention. Trout may end up being one of the greatest to play the game with a contract you can't trade. If Trout played for the Dodgers or on the east coast he would be a rockstar. Instead he's Chuck Mangione playing the horns to an empty club(for you young lads look up Chuck). At least Pujols had a decade in a town who loved him and baseball. Trout is 11 seasons into a career that in some ways is being wasted....
Now the notes(Larry King style):
Did Steve Clifford really say his players are tired at this point in the season? Haven't the Magic signed half the roster recently to 10-day contracts?...Gerrit Cole is in the second year of his $324M contract. He is off to an incredible start. He hasn't walked a batter in 26 innings and only three walks the entire season with 66 strikeouts. On Thursday, the Yankees were trying to sweep a series against the Astros, Cole's last team. The Yankees led 3-2 after seven innings and despite giving up a solo homer in the top of the 7th, Cole was rolling along with 97 pitches. Then Aaron Boone did what every manager does these days. He took his ace out and went to the bullpen who imploded and the Yankees lost 7-4. Boone recently said after pulling Cole when he went six innings that "it's a long term investment in Gerrit and you need to prepare for a long season." That's nice, but when you pay someone a contract larger than the GDP(look it up lads) of a small country, he should be able to pitch longer than six innings...I think pineapple remains an underrated fruit...The fact the Knicks are playing meaningful basketball on Mother's Day brings a smile to my face...I was watching the movie "Airplane" recently and still came across things I hadn't seen before. The movie also reminded me there was a time smoking was allowed on planes. Imagine that...Someone wants to throw a lot of money at the best golfers in the world and create a new tour. That's what Greg Norman tried to do over 20 years ago and the PGA created the WGC events. Someone wants to throw a lot of money at the world's best golfers again and the PGA wants to ban players from majors? C'mon guys. Grow up...Hartford has decided to drop its athletic department from Division I to DIII. The plan is to have the transition ready for the 2025 season. Really? Can't you just announce it today and tomorrow you are DIII?...Bob Segar just celebrated his 76th birthday. He can still sing...I don't know why Aaron Rodgers wants to leave Green Bay, if he really does. I think it's still about respect and money. Rodgers is the 6th highest paid QB in the game. I think if the Packers made it clear they wanted to do a long term contract with a lot of guaranteed money, this would not be a problem. But if Rodgers wants to host "Jeopardy" and that is fine but people need to slow down at how good he was during his two-week stint. Rodgers may have done a nice job but he is not as polished as those with TV experience and my guess is he is not a top candidate for the permanent host spot. Once the show announces a new host, does Rodgers lose his leverage?...I haven't had jello in years but think it might be time to try again...Wish your mom a Happy Mother's Day this Sunday. Moms are the best and we can never say "I love you mom" enough.
Final thought: China consumes the most instant ramen noodles in the world with about 40 billion servings a year.
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