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ST.
LOUIS CARDINALS
AGE: 24
POSITION: First Base
BIRTHPLACE: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
RESIDES: St. Louis, MO
COLLEGE: Maple Woods CC, MO
PERSONAL: Wife Deidre, 1 son & 1 daughter
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Albert
Pujols is actively involved with the Down Syndrome Association
(DSA) of Greater St. Louis. His daughter Isabella has
Down Syndrome. Since 2001, he has served as the spokesman
for “Buddy Walk” which features a walk around
the stadium’s warning track. This will be the fourth
year that he has kicked off the event and caught the ceremonial
first pitch from a participant. Every year to date, he
has hit a home run during the Buddy Walk game. He hosts
the Albert Pujols Golf Tournament to benefit DSA. At last
year’s event, he bid $3,000 for a Florida vacation
for four, and presented it as a birthday gift to an 11
year-old girl with Down Syndrome. He then bought a second
trip and gave it to a young boy who also attended the
event. From the awards he received for being voted by
his peers as the Player’s Choice Major League Player
of the Year and the National League’s Outstanding
Player, Albert donated $30,000 to DSA, $20,000 to Zoe
Ministries and $20,000 to West Coast Community Church.
In 2001, he donated $20,000 to DSA from winning the NL
Rookie of the Year award. Albert has pledged to build
a new baseball stadium in the Dominican Republic.
In
2003, Albert Pujols posted one of the best individual
seasons in Cardinal history, batting .359 with 43 home
runs and 212 hits. At 23, Albert became the youngest NL
batting champion since 1962. He was named NL Player of
the Year by The Sporting News. He also won the Hank Aaron
Award as the league’s best hitter and the Silver
Slugger Award. He was named to his second All-Star team.
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