When asked if he had time to talk about Placido Polanco, Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols pulled up a chair, sat down and asked the visitor to do the same.
Then he talked for about 15 minutes in the Busch Stadium clubhouse one day last week about the man he considers his best friend and mentor.
“I care a lot for him, from the bottom of my heart,” Pujols said of Polanco, the Tigers’ second baseman. “He’s a great person. It’s more than baseball. We are family.”
Pujols will see Polanco at Comerica Park this weekend when the Tigers and St. Louis play for the first time since the World Series. Polanco was hitless during the Cardinals’ five-game triumph but is now an early contender for the American League batting title.
The two have been close friends since 2001, when Polanco reached out to a 21-year-old who had barely played above Class A and was then in his first camp with the Cardinals.
Pujols had been staying in a hotel near the team’s Jupiter, Fla., spring complex but needed more space when his wife and children came to visit. Polanco, an established player in St. Louis, invited Pujols’ family to stay in his apartment.
Pujols has never forgotten the gesture, even after one Most Valuable Player Award, five All-Star selections and more than 250 home runs.
“He showed me the way,” Pujols said. “He was one of several guys who really took me under his wing. He wanted the best for me.
“He knew I didn’t have much money, and he opened the door for me, my wife and my kids. He said, ‘Hey, you can stay here.’ “
Their friendship has remained strong since, even though Polanco was dealt to Philadelphia in 2002, then to the Tigers three years later. Pujols visited Polanco a couple of times last off-season, and they found time to work out together, even though Polanco, 31, was busy building a new home in the Miami area.
Pujols, 27, is happy to lend Polanco his car when the Tigers travel to Kansas City, where Pujols owns a home. Polanco does the same when Pujols visits Florida.
Their children — Pujols has three, Polanco two — are similar in age. Pujols smiled as he said that Rose, Polanco’s 6-year-old daughter, “is like a teenager already,” and Pujols proudly mentioned that he’s the godfather to Ishmael, Polanco’s 3-year-old son.
Ishmael apparently has his father’s energy. “I think that’s where my compadre is going to pay for all the hard times he gave his dad when he was a little boy,” Pujols said.
Pujols laughed as he recalled the time he received a phone call from an overwhelmed Polanco, describing how his children were, at that moment, “throwing stuff all over and breaking things.”
Pujols offered to pay for anything the kids broke, to which Polanco replied, “Oh, are you spoiling my kids already?”
The players have similar work ethics, dating to their childhoods in the Dominican Republic. Polanco grew up with a very simple rule: His homework had to be finished by the time his mother, Haydee, returned home from working at a Santo Domingo photo lab.
“No excuses,” Polanco said, during an interview at Comerica Park earlier this season. “It had to be done.”
Now Polanco’s approach could produce his first All-Star selection and perhaps the batting title. Pujols, whose average has hovered near .250 over the last week, would not be surprised to see that happen.
“It’s so early, but I think he can do it,” Pujols said. “When he’s hot, I don’t like to call him because I don’t want to distract him.
“He’s an unbelievable player. Hopefully I can get an opportunity to play with him again.”
