Cardinals' Pujols Reveals How Tony La Russa Question in 2001 Helped Unlock Potential

Albert Pujols recently explained how his former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa provided some of the best advice of his career for him during his rookie season, on the podcast, 'Unwritten: Behind Baseball's Secret Rules.'

In a recent episode of Unwritten: Behind Baseball's Secret Rules, future Hall of Fame first baseman Albert Pujols discussed how his former manager, Tony La Russa, taught him a valuable lesson in his rookie season, one that he would never forget.

Ron Darling and Jimmy Rollins' new podcast on Audacy, Unwritten, explores the game's history and culture of unwritten rules, while speaking with players past and present.

Pujols joined Darling and Rollins last week to discuss the impact La Russa had on him in his rookie year. One day, in the team's kitchen, La Russa asked Pujols a tough question.

“He asked me ‘So Albert, I’m going to tell you something," Pujols said. "What do you prefer: 30 home runs or hit .300?’ And I was like ‘30 home runs, Tony. Everybody wants to hit the ball out of the ballpark.’ Bzzzz. Rookie mistake. ‘I want you to focus on hitting .300. Because if you focus on hitting .300, I bet you you’re going to get your 30 home runs. I bet you you’re going to get your 100 RBI.’ And that was the case.”

La Russa told Pujols to value contact hitting and putting the ball in play, offering that the home runs and RBI would come.

That season, Pujols would slash .329/.403/1.013 with 37 home runs and 130 RBI, finishing fourth in National League MVP voting, while winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

“He never gave me the opportunity to think about the question that he was giving me," Pujols said. "But if you look at it, if you really focus on hitting .300, how many chances are you going to have with men in scoring position and chance to drive runs and do some damage? A lot. You’re going to get more hits. You’re going to hit .300.”

Pujols would attribute La Russa's advice to his incredible rookie season, one that he would never look back from.

He would also go on to describe La Russa as a father figure in his life.

“Our relationship is like a father and son, 23 years later. And our relationship back then in 2001, I felt it hasn’t changed. If anything it’s getting stronger and stronger every year.”

Pujols hit the 697th home run of his Major League career Sunday, passing Alex Rodriguez for fourth on the all-time list.