As a boy growing up in Santo Domingo, the capitol of the Dominican Republic, Albert Pujols lived within walking distance of the training complex of the Seattle Mariners. The prospects assembled there would gather for games, and Pujols still remembers the time of first pitch: 1 p.m., an hour when he should have been at school. Instead he often found himself on the sidelines, watching another teenager from Santo Domingo, a prospect who grew into a phenomenon known as Big Papi.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 11, 2019 04:20 UTC