On August 28, St. Louis Cardinals' Manager Tony LaRussa and slugging first baseman Albert Pujols shocked baseball fans across the country by appearing at Glenn Beck's now infamous "I Have a Scheme" rally in Washington DC.
Pujols, apparently at La Russa's urging, appeared before the rally of some 90,000 Tea Party Activists and Beck supporters to accept an "award" from the Fox News host, purportedly for his humanitarian efforts through his Puljols Family Foundation.
On the date of the rally, Pujols was vying for the National League's triple crown and the Cards were within two games of the lead in the National League's Central Division.
Today... not so much.
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By PETE GRATHOFF
You’ve heard of the Sports Illustrated cover jinx, but here’s a new one:
The Glenn Beck curse.
It may be a tad early to call this one, but Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols has struggled mightily since being given an award at the "Restoring Honor’ rally in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28. It was organized by Beck, a Fox News host.
Pujols had been flirting with a Triple Crown chase. After he received the award and spoke to the crowd on Saturday afternoon, he had a double and a walk in four plate appearances that night against the Nationals.
It’s been all downhill since.
Since their appearance at the Beck Rally, the Cards have dropped 10 of their last 14 games and fallen to 7.5 games behind the Division-leading Cincinnati Reds.
After being the NL's Player of the Month in August, Pujols' hitting has since gone into the dumpster. He batted a mere .111 in the first eight games after the Beck-o-Rama.
But what's most telling about Pujols and LaRussa's decent into Teabaggerdome, is their utter cluenessness about the implications of their appearance on their fans and teammates.
But the involvement of the country's highest profile Latino ballplayer raises eyebrows in the midst of the uproar over Arizona's strict new immigration law, which has been very vocally defended by Beck and Tea Partiers.
"Pujols has been very vocal against SB1070 and other civil rights issues; we sure hope he continues to do the right thing this weekend," Roberto Lovato, co-founder of Presente.org Presente.org, one of the organizations pushing Major League Baseball to move next year's All-Star Game out of Phoenix, told the Daily News.
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Moreover, in response to the widespread criticism of his attendance at the right wing event by fans, players and supporters, La Russa laughingly suggested that he and Albert let themselves be trotted out at the Beck rally because the event was "non-political."
With this kind of towering genius leading St. Louis in their playoff hunt-- and sharp divisions now playing out among the Latino and African American players on the roster-- it now looks like the Cincinnati Reds are a shoe-in for the Division title and the playoffs.