#MVPujols - I love this! A Cardinals fan has started a petition to keep Albert Pujols a Cardinal for life. What’s a shame is that when I saw it, I immediately thought ‘this will never happen.’  But why not?  Sure, the St. Louis economy is in the toilet, to the point where the Rams are up for sale and no local buyer can be found.  But the fans still support the Cardinals, they have a new ballpark and its not a cheap baseball experience either so there may be some money that the team can use when the time comes in 2011.  (His contract is up in 2010, but the team has a $16 million option for 2011.  Even with the change in the economy, the team would be fools not to pick up that $16 million, since the comparable offensive players, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez make significantly more than that.)

The problem comes when the money people get involved.  Sure, you and I believe that $16 million should be enough.  But, Pujols does a fair amount of charity work, including the Pujols Family Foundation.  That extra $4 million that he could earn just from his baseball contracts could do a lot of good for the Foundation.  Additionally, there is the money he could make by doing National advertising/endorsements which are difficult for an athlete playing in a small media market to get.

So how do fans that truly care about keeping Pujols help sway him and the team?  Well, the petition is a great first step.  It’s something all the fans can see grow and get behind.  But actions speak louder than our names being added to a list.  If we want to tell a player he’s important to the community then we have to support that things that are important to him.

So, what’s the next step to getting Pujols to feel the pangs of loyalty to St. Louis that will keep him with the redbirds?  Start fundraising events for his charity.  Don’t worry about how little or how much you might raise,  but show that you care enough about him to mobilize and perhaps he will make some concessions too.  Put a paypal button on the petition page so fans can donate to his charity. (There is some more legal work involved that just putting the button, but you get the idea.)

Fans all over the country want Pujols to stay with the Cardinals (unless of course the Cardinals play their team.) Lifetime players are good for the sport.  They are special.  But it isn’t as simple as showing up to cheer regularly or signing your name to a petition.  We have show them that we care enough to put their values up with our own, just as we would with anyone in our lives we care about.  Want to make the difference?  Be the change you want to see.