Is Albert Pujols a jerk?

Right, because working in a office is the same as a being one of the biggest stars in baseball.

And where do you get "not being a good citizen and ambassador of the game" from? It has already been pointed out he built a wellness center. I have also heard of doing similar things elsewhere. Just because a person who is constantly bombarded with autograph requests doesn't much care to do them doesn't mean he is a jerk, asshole ... etc. A lot of athletes do stuff behind the scenes that are a hell of a lot more important than giving some adult a baseball with your signature. They do things like building a wellness center.

 

There's a difference between acting a little aloof and being a jerk. Not opining one way or the other about Pujols because I have no idea. But he's going to sign with the Cubs.

 

They're nudged to do that by their agents and their team. It's almost like titheing to the religion of celebrity. I don't know what Pujols' personal involvement in it is beyond the check he writes, but it seems to me it is something less than Paul Newman's summer camp or the various things Kurt Warner has done. Pearlman is right on with that part, I think it was a later update, that the charity doesn't sway him because all these guys have charities.

Tiger Woods has one of the biggest learning centers in America, helping underprivileged kids. Ergo, Tiger Woods is not an asshole?

I clicked on that link thinking Pearlman would be extrapolating a player's treatment of sportswriters into that player's personality in general, which is an unfair mistake that too many writers make. But it was a good glimpse, and one that's available every day in public, into what you see of Albert when the cameras aren't on. (And I'm just FLOORED that the St. Louis media hasn't delved into this.)

 

Mickey Mantle was one of the all-time pricks to fans during his playing career. Then he retired and started showing up shit-faced drunk and loudly profane at golf outings and corporate meet-and-greets for which he was paid handsomely.

And yet people have shrines in their homes dedicated to him.

 

I worked with plenty of people who were shitheads both in and out of the newsroom, but they were called curmudgeon's back then. And they were good at their jobs. So they were tolerable. Hell, they fit the profile of what a newspaper guy was seen as being. Either way, as was already pointed out numerous times, there is a world of difference between my 40,000 job and Albert's. And being a good guy never got any players one red cent past what they were deemed to be worth with their on-the-field play. Please tell me you don't think that being a good guy factors into contract negotiations. Please tell me that.

 

Agree with you completely although in rare cases being a jerk does have an effect on negotiations. Would Manny still be Boston if he was more like say Jeter? Probably. Being a jerk will sometimes, in an exception to the rule way, cause teams to let you go. Sheffield is another example. Great players are left to walk because they are a jerk and the team would rather spend the money on another All-Star or a couple of good players.

 

I think Jeter got millions more from the Yankees -- because of his importance as a marketing tool -- than he would have gotten on the open market. I think there are a lot of cases of teams re-signing players because they're fan favorites; not much that has been quite like Jeter, but there are definitely cases of teams going a few hundred thousand higher than they would go to bring in a new free agent that the team rates equally or even a bit better. None of this means a whole lot in the Pujols case, of course, because he could be as big of an asshole as Barry Bonds was and everyone in St. Louis is still going to be pissed if he goes to the Cubs.

 

Yes. Has been for running on 11 years now. Not a news flash to anyone around the game.

 

I have no idea how Pujols acts a majority of the time, but the autograph session scenario described by Pearlman paints Pujols has an ass.

 

To add to BYH's point, I did a Cardinals-Brewers game in 2003 and I recall the Brewers' beat writers complaining about what an ass Pujols was.

 

These arrogant a-holes forget why they get the big $$. If they want to act like an a**, fine, but don't complain about the negative press and the scrutiny.