1.13.07: Pujols Hits the Road for Health

First baseman spearheads humanitarian medical mission
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com

ST. LOUIS -- Albert Pujols will be talking about health this week. In a change for the slugger, it won't be his own health.

The 2005 National League MVP leaves on Sunday for his native Dominican Republic, where he will undertake a humanitarian mission to provide medicine, health care and health advice for 1,000 children in three poor villages. Pujols will miss the Cardinals' visit to the White House, among other events, in order to make the trip.

"This is a trip that we've been planning for almost a year," Pujols said on Saturday afternoon at the annual Cardinals Care Winter Warm-Up. "I'm taking six doctors and two assistants down to the Dominican. As of right now, we have three villages that we're going to work on, and we've got 1,000 kids that we're going to work with in six days. The doctors are ready to go."

Saturday was the first day of the Winter Warm-Up, Cardinals Care's annual fundraiser. Pujols spoke with reporters about the trip, and a variety of other topics, before taking the stage to sign autographs for two hours.

Pujols established the Pujols Family Foundation in 2005 to do just this sort of thing, but the upcoming trip will mark a new step forward for the foundation. Pujols is eager to get going -- and hopeful that the ice storms in the St. Louis area will allow him to get out.

"There's a couple of guys that are really looking forward to this trip," he said. "I'm looking forward to it. This is something that's going to be a really good experience for me, for my family and for the foundation. For the doctors, they don't know what they're going to face. I know what they're going to face. People that are poor, they've never seen TVs before. Some of the villages, if it rains, we probably won't be able to get there because it gets flooded. But I'm looking forward to it, and I think it's going to be a great experience."

Hailing from the Dominican, Pujols has taken a great interest in the plight of that nation's poorest residents. His foundation does work in the United States, but it's clear that the Dominican remains extremely close to Pujols' heart.

"It's really hard to describe," he said of the conditions in the villages. "You [reporters] need to see it, and you guys will get the opportunity to see it, because we're going to take a camera crew down there. It's going to be something that we want to show you guys, the city of St. Louis and the people that supported the Pujols Family Foundation. [We want to show] what we've been doing with the money that they donated to our foundation."

The traveling party has a wide range of aims. Pujols said that one goal will be health education, and improving hygiene will be on the radar. He even said that if possible, children who need surgery will be transported to the United States in order to receive the treatment that they need.

And as for his own health, Pujols said it's in good shape. The Cardinals' franchise player said he's feeling good, despite a series of injuries in 2006.

"I took a month and a half off to make sure I don't try to come back too soon," he said. "I'd rather be greedy later on than early when I'm working out. I feel good so far, knock on wood. I haven't felt any of those injuries that I suffered during the season, and that's a good sign. I feel really good, but you can't tell until you start doing a lot of baseball stuff, taking ground-balls every day and swinging every day."

Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.