9.23.07: Pujols Family pays tribute to teen

Taken from an article by ROGER GARFIELD / Used with permission.

Staring out into the Missouri air and onto the baseball diamond at Busch Stadium in St. Louis Thursday evening, Ken and Doris Frizzell held hands and breathed easy, experiencing an emotion they hadn't been able to summon in more than two months.

Calm.
Ten weeks earlier, their son, Jordan Henderson, died in a car accident on South Church Street. He was 16.

The subsequent days were a roller coaster of emotions. Pain. Uncertainty. Confusion.

And then, roughly three weeks ago, the Frizzells received a phone call from Todd Perry, the executive director of St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols' Christian-based Family Foundation. Perry told them that Pujols had heard about their son and wanted to express his condolences.

Doris wondered why. She barely knew who Pujols was, much less why he cared about her son.

Shortly after Henderson's death, a worn, crinkled piece of paper was discovered in his wallet.

On the paper was a story about Pujols, including a prayer to which the Cardinals first baseman had committed his life:

"Please come into my life right now, Lord," part of the prayer said. "Help me to follow you always."

At Henderson's funeral service, more than 1,000 copies of that prayer were distributed.

According to Riverdale baseball coach Barry Messer, who had worked closely with Henderson

- a rising pitching sensation for the Warriors - Pujols' foundation started to receive mail about the folded-up prayer a few days after the memorial.

"They received numerous e-mails and numerous letters about Jordan's story and what it had done for our community and how it pulled people together and brought people closer to God," Messer said.

And Pujols took them to heart.

Two weeks ago, a package arrived at the Frizzell household from the Cardinals organization. Inside, they discovered an authentic St. Louis jersey with Henderson and the No. 7 - the number he wore for the Warriors - stitched on the back. It was even signed by the entire Cardinals team.

"From what we understand, at one of the team's practices, (Pujols) went in and told the other fellows what had happened, and they all signed it right then and there," Doris said.
"You can imagine how we felt when we got that. It feels like our son's made the big leagues."

The compassion didn't stop there. Pujols wanted to meet the Frizzells, so he asked them to come to St. Louis as guests of his foundation.

They flew out Wednesday and met Pujols and his wife, Deidre, at the ballpark Thursday. Pujols sat with the Frizzells and spoke about his faith and closeness to God.

"He said, 'There's so much more where your son is,'" Doris said.

When she took out the wallet and unfolded the prayer, Doris said Pujols couldn't believe they had brought the wallet.

"He would be my pick for the best role model in the world," Doris said.

Friday afternoon, before the Frizzells' plane had landed in Nashville, Deidre Pujols had already called to see if they had made it home safely.

"They are so genuine and so loving," Doris said, her voice significantly more steady than it had been before the trip.

"What I got was a calmness and a peace," she said. "I feel renewed. Even though I've cried ... I feel so strengthened from being around these people. They didn't have to do what they did.

"It's been a blessing. It's been a blessing."

Click here for photo slideshow.