At the moment, the fans of St. Louis are not all that pleased with Albert Pujols. He told them all that he intended to finish his career in a Cardinals uniform and then skipped town for a few million bucks. When Cardinals fans see the No. 5 on the back of a Pujols jersey now, they will likely see it as a money symbol like this one. In any event, Pujols did spend a lot of years in St. Louis and was part of two World Series teams. For that reason, he decided to give the fans the thank you ad treatment in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch — the same paper that pictured him as a villain when the big announcement came in on Thursday. Here is a picture of the one-page ad with transcript below.
I want to thank each and every one of you sincerely from the bottom of my heart for the love and support you have shown me and my family for the past 11 years. In my time with the Cardinals, I have been fortunate enough to play on championship teams, and in front of championship fans. This community has reached out and embraced me, and for that I am truly humbled and grateful.
My decision to leave has been incredibly difficult, and your support is the biggest reason why. While I am excited about this new chapter in my life, it was very important to me to let you know that St. Louis has been, and always will remain in my heart. I have been honored to be able to wear the Cardinal uniform the last 11 seasons, and I want to thank the entire Cardinal organization, my teammates, coaches, managers, and staff for everything they have given me as well.
We call St. Louis home and my family and I are so blessed to have made lifelong relationships in St. Louis that we look forward to continuing for many years to come, and words cannot fully express our gratitude to you all.
Thank you and God bless,
Albert and Deidre
Something tells me it will take a little more than a full-page ad for Cardinals fans to get over losing their best player, but it’s a step in the right direction. At least he didn’t intentionally leave anyone out Lebron style. That’s gotta count for something.
Thanks to Hardball Talk for pointing out the ad.
