Sports : Baseball history echoes with Pujols homers

On my first visit to the old Busch Stadium in 2002, I was walking around before the game, observing all of the pre-game rituals: The grounds crew. The fans. The historical displays. Batting practice.

Along with the ever-present music blasting from speakers, and the growing crowd noise, there is a another pre-game noise continually echoing through the stadium: The crack of the bat hitting the ball as the players take batting practice.

It sounds somewhat like the echo of a distant .22 caliber rifle: Pop. Pop. Pop.

I was halfway between home plate and the left field fence when I heard a new noise that was so drastically different that I stopped in my tracks, looking around to find the source.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

It sounded like someone had replaced the .22 with a 9 mm or a 12-guage. And the gun sounded a lot closer.

There, at home plate, was the source of the loud noise. Albert Pujols was taking batting practice.

Since the 2001 season, the year after he played in the Midwest League against teams like the Cedar Rapids Kernels, Albert Pujols has been inspiring baseball fans -- and other baseball players -- with his consistent hitting.

I would not have believed it if I had not heard it myself, but the echoes left no room for doubt: There's something historic about even the sound of the bat when Albert Pujols is swinging it.

Pujols made history again Saturday night, hitting three home runs in Game 3 of the World Series. Only two others, Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson, have done that.

Baseball players for decades have loved the way baseball appeals to the senses. The smell of the grass and the dirt and the leather of the gloves. The feel of the bat or the ball in your hands. The sight of a long home run or an amazing defensive plays.

And now, thanks to Albert Pujols, the sound of slugging history.