“So, who do you think comes up?” Fogg asked. When some semblance of order was restored, Fogg threw ball four to intentionally walk Edmonds. The benches and bullpens emptied but there were no punches thrown and there were no ejections. “I’m just a rookie, but I’m saying, ‘Hey Jimmy, it’s fine, no worries.’ But Edmonds screams, ‘Shut the (blank) up rookie!’ So I lose my mind and now I’m trying to kill Edmonds.” “So here I am, restraining the guy I just tried to hit,” Fogg said. Kendall grabbed Lloyd and Fogg grabbed Edmonds. “But then, Lloyd McClendon, from the dugout, yells, ‘Geeze, if you can’t hit him, just walk him then!’ ”Īt that point, Edmonds turned his anger from Fogg to McClendon and the two had a confrontation near home plate.
“So Edmonds steps out of the box and gives me this bad look,” Fogg continued. The problem was that Edmonds dodged three inside fastballs. So veteran Pirates catcher Jason Kendall signaled for Fogg to plunk Edmonds. In the third inning, Placido Palanco hit a one-out double, leaving first base open. “McClendon said, ‘If Edmonds comes up and there’s anybody on base, just hit the (blankity-blank). He was particularly sick of the Pirates getting clubbed by outfielder Jim Edmonds and, of course, Pujols.Įdmonds had singled off Fogg in the first inning, so McClendon had a serious pow-wow with Fogg in the dugout. The Cardinals were consistently beating the Pirates and manager Lloyd McClendon was sick to death of it. But Pujols’ 60th career homer is too good a story to pass up. OK, Fogg was a rookie pitching for the Pirates at the time, so this Pujols homer didn’t come when Fogg was wearing Colorado purple. Following are four of those pitchers and their memories. Nevertheless, specific Pujols home runs are burned into the brains of Rockies pitchers. His chances to rake off Rockies pitchers and watch his homers soar into Denver’s mile-high sky were greatly diminished. Louis and the National League in December 2011, signing a 10-year, $254 million contract with the Angels. 329 with 47 doubles, 37 homers, 130 RBIs and 112 runs scored.īut after 11 years in the majors, Pujols left St. It seems as if it should have been more, especially considering that he hit five homers against Colorado - three at Coors Field - in 2001 when he put together one of the greatest rookie seasons in history. Pujols has launched home runs off 24 different Rockies pitchers and he’s hit 13 out at Coors Field. Since then, Pujols has homered off 450 different pitchers in the regular season, in 40 different parks, with 12 walk-off home runs to serve as memory markers. He started in left field and was 1-for-3, getting his first big-league knock off Rockies left-hander Mike Hampton - a single to left field in the seventh inning. Pujols made his major league debut against the Rockies on April 2, 2001, at Coors Field. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu