Albert Pujols' Great Wrong Was That He Ignored the Media and We Can't Have That!

The American mainstream sports media has become the single most patronizing, sanctimonious, pontificating segment of American society, and if you need any evidence, look no further than today's article by Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, in his article, Pujols displays zero leadership after Game 2 loss.

Passan's problem is that he qualifies leadership in only the most self-centered of ways, and that's literally whether you speak to the media. When I say literally, I actually mean literally, not in the sense of some sort of Chris Tragerean abuse of the word. 

Passan actually argues that by not speaking to the press afterwards, Pujols left the "children" to clean up "his mess." The notion that 28-year-old men like David Freese are "children" is plainly offensive. 

Passan says, "Part of stardom, perhaps the hardest part, is accountability. Pujols is not accountable to the media. This is not about that," Passan lies. 

Yes, it's precisely about that. Every time someone dares stiff the media, the media gets all up in arms. If athletes don't give the answers they want, they opine about that. If you give original answers, they cry about that. 

One thing you can be certain of. When the mainstream media comes down universally on someone, the media has somehow, in their minds, been victimized, whether it is Urban Meyer berating someone who was long overdue for it, an athlete not wanting to talk about something the media wants to talk about, or an athlete skipping out on a press conference.

You can be certain of one thing: if the media is wronged, there will be no balance to the story. 

To suggest that Pujols lacks leadership because he skipped out on the press is laughable. To a man, everyone who has ever played with him has said that his work ethic is inspiring.

Players like David Freese have said that when you come into the majors and you see the hardest working guy on your team is the best player in the world, it makes you want to work hard. 

For Passan to poke his myopic head out of his tiny well would require perspective beyond that of a "my story" outlook that today's media seems to focus on so hard, though.

It's too easy to assign all matters of leadership to how it affects the mighty Jeff Passan, and then to play it off as though what you're "really" talking about is the team.

Did anyone on the team say anything about Pujols not being there? No. Did Tony La Russa? No. The only ones doing any complaining are the media, and that's because in spite of Passan's protests to the contrary, this really is about the media.

Passan argues that: 

"

If he had cut off that throw, and Andrus hadn’t scored, and the Cardinals had pulled off a victory in the bottom of the ninth or extra innings, Pujols would’ve taken his time to shower, dressed himself carefully and stood before the cameras and notepads to talk about what a good win it was. He might not say anything interesting or of import, but that isn’t the point.

A leader leads through good and bad. And if Albert Pujols truly wants to consider himself as one, and the Cardinals continue to empower him accordingly, perhaps next time he’ll think twice before he leaves the kids to mop up his mess.

"

The thing is that Pujols has been quick to hand the stage over to the youngsters all postseason. Not a word of that in the article. When he made two brilliant defensive plays in Game 1, it wasn't Albert Pujols taking center stage in the press conference, but Lance Berkman, Chris Carpenter and David Freese.

This is the guy, who in Game 6 of the NLCS, called a timeout so that the Milwaukee crowd could cheer Prince Fielder in his last at-bat!!! Does that sound like a guy who is trying to hog the limelight when the going is good? 

This is a guy who came back from a broken arm after two weeks to lead his team to the postseason. This is the guy who was picking his team up when they were 10.5 games back, with his best month of the season coming when the team needed it most. 

Suggesting that Pujols only steps up when the going is good is either wantonly ignorant, or downright dishonest. 

This is the guy of whom Randy Johnson once said, "I think Albert is the one guy in our game who could go to the opposition, say something, and they'd listen. That's how highly people regard him."

This is the only player in baseball who has won the Marvin Miller Player of the Year—an award that is unique in that the players vote on it—on three occasions. He's also the only player to be named both the Marvin Miller Player of the Year, and the Marvin Miller Man of the Year. 

Again, though, why let facts get in the way of perfectly good rhetoric?

In other words, this is the single most respected man in all of baseball, but to Passan, he's the guy who stiffed him in a press conference that leaves 28-year-old "children" to fend for themselves. Everything that Pujols has done boils down to how it affected Passan's world, and Passan's story. 

Of course there will be those who say that Pujols still did something wrong in not talking to the press. I disagree and always have. A player has every right to not talk to the media. I am so tired of people complaining about what players "should do" or "should have done." 

How about someone micro-criticizes every aspect of your life there, Mr. Passan? It's petty. Pujols was obviously discouraged with himself, and wanted to be alone. He's a human being. I guess stars aren't allowed that privilege when the media has questions though. 

Mr. Passan, part of reporting is objectivity, and not confusing your personal interest with the story. Reporting has its responsibilities too, and your self-serving hatchet job of Albert Pujols because he didn't talk to the media is another example of the media failing to live up to them.