6.06.07: Pujols hosts 'Buses for Baseball' kids

Slugger meets with local Down syndrome children
By Daniel Berk / MLB.com / Used with Permission

ST.LOUIS -- The smile on Albert Pujols' face might have been bigger than the smiles on the 50 or so admirers waiting for him behind home plate.

Pujols was one of five players from the Cardinals and Reds to meet with kids with Down syndrome before Wednesday's game at Busch Stadium as a part of the Major League Baseball Player's Trust Buses for Baseball program.

The program, in its third year of existence, goes from stadium to stadium to help bring a large group of kids to the ballpark for a true, baseball experience. The program selects a different charity every year and in every city. In St. Louis, they selected the Pujols Family Foundation, which is dedicated to the love, care and development of people with Down syndrome.

Pujols' daughter, Isabella, has Down syndrome and the former MVP has held a number of events in the St. Louis area to help benefit people with Down syndrome.

Pujols met with the kids and took pictures and signed a few autographs. So Taguchi and David Eckstein also came over to do the same, along with Kyle Lohse and Juan Castro from the Reds. A few of the kids were reluctant to let players from the Reds sign their T-shirts, but eventually caved, with big smiles on their faces. Castro left to go to batting practice with a beaded necklace one of the kids gave to him.

"It's an honor and a privilege to be selected," Todd Perry, Executive Director of the Pujols Family Foundation said. "In a way, it doesn't surprise me with how Albert is. He's so well liked and appreciated, both on and off the field. His face just lights up when he sees the kids."

The Players Association was represented in St. Louis by former big leaguer Phil Bradley. Bradley said the Players Association picks a different player with every team to have as a cornerstone for the program. For the Cardinals, Bradley said it was easy to select Pujols and have other players help out.

Buses for Baseball provides tickets and transportation to the game for the kids and also give each kid $10 for ballpark food.

"It's a good program, we're trying to do it in every park," Bradley said. "Some of these guys have probably never been at a Major League ballpark, so it's a great opportunity for them and the ballplayers."

Buses for Baseball will provide 1,500 children from both the United States and Canada with a ballpark experience this summer.

Daniel Berk is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs

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