The headlines could have read, ‘Former Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Albert Pujols will potentially retire after 2021 season.’ Instead, the speculation of a generational talent beginning his farewell tour, sparked by an Instagram post from his wife, is another reminder of what could have been.
This goes back to one of my favorite stories in Rays/Devil Rays folklore: Fernando Arango was an area scout for the Devil Rays and stumbled upon a relatively unknown high school prospect for good reason. Albert Pujols and his family had recently moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic when he was 16 and he was just making a name for himself as a high school ballplayer.