http://tinyurl.com/2ro3eb 10/10/2007 12:36 AM ET Pujols honored with AFL Alumni award Cardinals slugger calls Fall League experience a 'turning point' By Lisa Winston / MLB.com SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- It was October 2000 and 20-year-old Albert Pujols had just completed a whirlwind of a summer in his professional debut. A 13th-round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999 out of Maple Woods Community College in Kansas, Pujols had signed too late that summer to play, so his first taste of the Minors came in 2000, when he hit .324 with 17 homers and 84 RBIs in 109 games at Class A Peoria of the Midwest League. At summer's end, he moved up a level to Advanced Class A Potomac for a brief stretch before finishing up in the postseason with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds. He earned Pacific Coast League playoff MVP honors, hitting .347 and appearing with them in what would be the final Triple-A World Series in Las Vegas. Then, when most mortal men would be ready to fly home, collapse on their living room couches and grab the remote control and a bag of chips for a few months, Pujols continued to play for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League. To be honest, he thought he'd be one of those guys who would fly home and relax with his family. But when the Cardinals asked him to go to the AFL, he knew that in the long run it would be the best thing he could do. "I was real tired, my wife was pregnant and I thought I would be going home to be with my family," he said. "But I knew that if I wanted to make it to the big leagues I needed to get better. And I'd heard so many great things about the Arizona Fall League, that I'd get to face the best players from each organization." With Scottsdale, he continued to hit while also starting the transition from third base, his original position, to the outfield, where the Cardinals thought he'd wind up (he did not move to first base on a full-time basis until 2004). On Tuesday, Opening Day of the AFL's 16th season, the league honored Pujols with the unprecedented "Distinguished Alumni Award." Pujols was on hand to witness the retirement of his Scottsdale jersey, No. 36, in left field at Scottsdale Stadium. In front of a large crowd, more than a few of whom were wearing St. Louis Cardinals jerseys bearing his name, Pujols called the honor the highlight of his career, which is saying something from a man who was named National League MVP in 2005. But Pujols cited his trip through the AFL as a turning point in what has been, in its first seven years, a remarkable Major League career. "Obviously, it took me to the next level," he said. "I thank the fall league for giving me the opportunity to play here because it really developed my game a lot." If people thought Pujols' meteoric rise through the Cardinals system in his debut season was unexpected, they certainly couldn't have anticipated what he would do for an encore in 2001. Nor what he would do -- what he continues to do -- for the six-and-counting seasons that followed. Pujols made the Cardinals out of Spring Training as a non-roster player in '01 and earned NL Rookie of the Year honors, hitting .329 with 37 homers and 130 RBIs. Since then, he has become the first player in Major League history to hit at least 30 homers each of his first seven seasons. He's also topped the .300 and 100-RBI plateaus every year. Talk about your model of consistency, he's never played in fewer than 140 games in a season or hit fewer than 30 doubles, topping the 50-mark twice. Inducted to the AFL Hall of Fame in 2004, Pujols was thrilled by his latest honor. "It seems like it was yesterday that I had one of my best experiences playing here in the fall league with so many talented, great players," he said. "It's just such an honor to be here tonight and receive this award." Lisa Winston is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. --

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