Albert Pujols will always be a Cardinal first and Angel second

LA Angels slugger Albert Pujols is about to embark on a visit to his glorious past as he will return to St. Louis for the first time since signing with the Angels in 2012.

Albert Pujols did so many great things in his first 11 seasons as a Cardinal.  Pujols hit .328 with 445 homers and drove in 1,329 runs with the Cardinals. He won the MVP three times, the Rookie of the Year Award, was a 10-time All-Star, and he also won two World Series titles.

In the past eight years with the Angels Pujols has hit .258 with 200 homers and 692 RBIs.  He also hit his 500th and 600th career home run while wearing Angel red and he got his 3,000th hit and 2,000th RBI.  The Angels have only made the playoffs once while Pujols has been there.

So it is suffice to say that Pujols has a much better history in St. Louis than he has in Anaheim.  Pujols will most likely go in the Hall of Fame as a Cardinal and rightfully so.  Now that Pujols is returning to the city he spurned eight years ago what will the reaction be?

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Knowing St. Louis fans, who are among the best in baseball, they will give Pujols a well-deserved standing ovation that will probably last five minutes or more.  The Cardinals might also put together a video montage of the great Pujols moments wearing a Cardinal uniform which there are many.

There is sure to be some tears shed by Pujols and some of his fans especially on Friday in his first game back.  Pujols and the Cardinal fans are both looking forward to his return. A modern-day Prodigal Son returns home.

Pujols will also have a lot of family members on hand to watch him play as he grew up in the Missouri area after moving from the Dominican Republic before high school.

What should not be lost is the importance of finishing the road trip strong for the Angels who have won five of eight so far with only three games left in St. Louis before returning home next week.

Hopefully the return to St. Louis will spark Pujols break out of a recent slump that has seen him hit only .154 with a homer and 5 RBIs in his last seven games.

Albert enjoy your homecoming and at you take away some great memories this weekend and hopefully a few Angel wins.