Sports : Best wishes to Albert Pujols, from a Cardinals fan

Yesterday, I went to my closet and did something I have been doing quite regularly for the past 10 years, and plan to do again in the future: I put on my St. Louis Cardinals shirt with the number 5 on the back. Albert Pujols' number.

While many St. Louis Cardinals fans have been hysterical since Albert agreed to play for the LA Angels next year, I can understand why Albert would leave his only "home" team.

But first, about the anger: Members of the media have criticized Albert, calling him greedy, saying he chose money over a legacy. Many fans have been even more virulent (and less articulate) in expressing their anger via social media and shirt burnings.

Most of the fan comments are not worth repeating, although I will point out that many of them called Pujols a traitor, but spelled that word "trader." And we thought it was Pujols who had English as a second language, not his Gringo fans.

The tradition of teammates

I grew up a Minnesota Viking fan (yeah, I should have known better, but the Paul Krause jersey I got at age 8 left me spellbound). Every year, the same stars put on the purple uniforms and almost won the Super Bowl: Fran Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman, Alan Page and the Purple People Eaters. Sammy White. Ahmad Rashad. Fred Cox. Matt Blair.

But in the age of free agency, that happens rarely in most sports, including baseball. only a handful of players in the past few decades have stayed with the same team throughout their careers.

So when Albert Pujols left St. Louis, he was not the first of his teammates to do so. The Cardinals let Edgar Renteria, one of Pujols' best friends, sign with the Red Sox after the 2003 season. They traded another of his friends, Eli Marrero, that same winter.

And Cardinals fans all remember the pain of seeing center fielder Jim Edmonds wearing the uniform of the Padres -- and worse -- the Chicago Cubs -- along with a few other teams, in his final seasons.

However: The Cards traded Edmonds to the Padres (who later released him before he joined the Cubs) for David Freese, the 2011 World Series MVP.

Naturall, all Cardinals fans all hoped that Pujols -- arguably the best baseball player in modern history --would stay in St. Louis.

That didn't happen.

The ideal situation of players staying in the same uniform for their entire careers did not end because Pujols is an Angel. Pujols became an angel because that era -- as much as it pains me to say it -- is over.

The Angels offered Pujols a few more million per year, but they also offered him some things the Cardinals did not. They offered a 10-year contract, guaranteed, with the option of playing Designated Hitter. That means that Pujols, who turns 32 next month, is now as certain as possible to still have a job in Major League Baseball at age 41. He will also be playing at Angel Stadium, which is about average among ratings for home runs. He set all of his hitting records while playing half of his games at Busch Stadium, which is rated second-to-least favorable park for home run hitters. LA is also nearly 50 percent Hispanic; St. Louis, about 2 percent. I have stood along the baseline, listening to Pujols, a native of the Domican Republic, speak to teammates -- in Spanish.

Also, after having a few bouts with injuries throughout his career, having the chance to be designated hitter means that as he becomes "old" in baseball years, Pujols will have more opportunities to keep playing than he would in the National League.

I bought my shirt at the beginning of 2001, as Albert was beginning his Rookie of the Year season (he had played in the Midwest League against teams like the CR Kernels the year before). The shirt is faded now, and the letters are worn.

But I'll wear it again. I'd even wear it to Busch Stadium.

While some Cardinals fans have expressed ill-wishes to Albert, I hope he has as much success in an Angels uniform as he did as a Cardinal.