Pujoling

Two sides to every argument. You're either on one side or the other. There's no turning back. Unless you're like me and you're on the fence. Sitting on the fence sucks, especially if it's electric and it shocks you, but hey, at least I'm trying to take in both sides of the Pujols going to Anaheim dilemma.

The Angels got a great player. Best of our generation, period. Congrats to them for taking the initiative. From a business perspective, they gave the greatest player the most amount of money any first basemen has ever been given. It makes perfect sense to pay players according to their play. The Cardinals didn't offer that, Albert felt like it was a punch to the groin, and the Angels welcomed him in with open arms and gobs of money. The Cardinals, from a business perspective, will move on and stay focused on the team they have right now. In a few years anyway, Pujols will be in decline and it will feel like he's in a nursing home, overstaying his welcome, and having the Cardinals force-feed him money. Overall, the Cardinals should have signed Pujols before they signed Matt Holliday. The only reason the Cards signed Holliday was to protect Pujols, and now Holliday has to protect himself. In the end, we'll all move on. Look on the bright side; at least we didn't become like Cleveland and burned Pujols' jerseys in the streets.

Now look at it from a human perspective....

What are you thinking?!?!?!?!? Does it matter if your ego is hurt because the Cardinals didn't pay you the money that you think you deserved? Of course you deserve that money, Albert, but the Cards also offered you benefits after you retired that would have made you a legend in St. Louis. A great baseball town with a storied tradition, and you would have your statue right next to Stan the Man. Even if you take out your legacy as a Cardinal forever, you would have enjoyed multiple years of the exact same treatment your fans, teammates, owners, managers, and people associated with the organization, and that treatment was nothing but love and affection for our one guy. That's what happens when an entire Cardinal nation becomes engrained on one player.

Could this whole thing be on greed as well? Some might say yes, others no. He was looking out for himself, since he knew the American League has a DH for older guys who can still rake when they're 40. It's in Southern California, where everyone dreams about their future home being there. But if it came down to money, who cares if you're not making millions of dollars more? The difference, in my mind, between $200 million dollars and $250 million is the same difference as infinity and infinity plus one, which, according to my calculations, is still infinity. Yes, it hurts your ego if you're being paid less than you should, but it's also humbling. That, in my mind, is when you've become a man. Taking less than you deserve can hurt you, or it can build you up and make you stronger.

Now what if we took an average American worker and gave him the same situation, but in terms of just thousands of dollars? The counter argument for this would be that, given the opportunity to leave a company he's been with for 10 years and was a game-changer in the company, would someone do it? What if that opportunity was in the form of a 40% raise in his salary, warmer climate, and benefits galore for a different competing company? People would snatch that up in a heartbeat, wouldn't they? That's everyone's dream; make more money, live in a warm climate, and be happy for the rest of our lives. How can we berate Pujols for doing the same thing we would do if we were in his shoes?

But, as over-consuming Americans, do we really NEED it? Some of the happiest people in the world are those who are less fortunate that us. My basketball coach said it best when he not only tried to inspire us for the upcoming season, but for Americans' mentality as well; "No matter how good you are, it's never good enough. You always have to keep striving for excellence." It's a great mentality to have, but at what point do we ever become satisfied with our lives? If we're always striving for excellence, when will we ever know if we've ever been excellent in anything? What if that journey towards excellence results in stress, anxiety, depression, and just being out of control with our own lives? It takes away the fun, the excitement, and the reason why we're on this planet: to live. Life is not measured in the amount of Benjamins stacked high in a vault in the back of a bank, or trophies displayed for all the world to see. Life is measured by the memories, the relationships, and the happiness one achieves while living.

All I'm saying is, Albert, as an American, has the right to choose where he plays and how much money will be forcefully stuffed into his deep pockets. But not only did his decision affect his life, but it had an effect on how we as Americans look at ourselves. Aren't we all greedy in the sense that we're all trying to be better than we were yesterday? Can't we all believe in the saying that "Money can't buy happiness?"

Since money did somehow buy Albert's happiness, at least I won't have to listen to Cubs fans telling me that I like it in my Pujols anymore...