#CardCorner: 1981 Donruss Luis Pujols

On June 25, 2002, the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers met at Kauffman Stadium. Leading their respective teams that night were Tony Peña and Luis Pujols, who had both taken over their teams during the season.

It marked the first time in history that teams led by managers from the Dominican Republic had met during the regular season.

For Pujols, it was a career highlight that saw him go from player to coach to manager in a big league career that spanned more than five decades.

Luis Bienvenido Pujols was born Nov. 18, 1955, in Santiago in the Dominican Republic. Signed by the Astros on Jan. 9, 1973, Pujols was reported to be 15 years old and was first sent to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with team manager Leo Posada before heading to Covington of the Appalachian League when short-season play began. Pujols hit .267 in 26 games.

Pujols started the 1974 season with Cedar Rapids and hit .198 before being sent back to Covington, where he hit .266 in 60 games. Then in 1975, the Astros’ Midwest League team switched from Cedar Rapids to Dubuque, and Pujols started the Midwest League All-Star Game – hitting .220 but playing outstanding defense.

Promoted to Double-A Columbus of the Southern League in 1976, Pujols shared the catching duties with Bruce Bochy and hit .197 in 53 games while battling knee problems. But his defensive reputation kept him rising through the Astros’ system, and in 1977 Pujols made it to Triple-A Charleston. He hit .228 in 58 games, and on Sept. 16, 1977, the Astros brought Pujols to the big leagues.

Pujols had one hit over 15 at-bats in six games but impressed with his defense and was among the Astros’ final cuts in Spring Training of 1978. A few days before Houston traded catcher Joe Ferguson to the Dodgers on July 1, the Astros recalled Pujols from Triple-A.

Astros general manager Tal Smith told the Victoria (Texas) Advocate that Pujols would be an improvement on defense but was not sure about his hitting ability. Smith proved to be right as Pujols tallied 33 assists in 55 games but hit just .131 with 11 RBI.

The Astros pitchers, however, loved having Pujols behind the plate. It was a staff that was a mix of young and veteran hurlers including hard-throwing J.R. Richard, Floyd Bannister and Joe Sambito and veteran knuckleballer Joe Niekro.

“If you don’t think Richard throws hard then look at these fingers,” Pujols told the Cincinnati Post after catching Richard’s complete game four-hitter against the Reds on July 4. “See how the finger on the left hand (Pujols’ glove hand) is swollen.”

The Astros acquired veteran catcher Alan Ashby from the Blue Jays following the 1978 season, and Ashby won the starting job in 1979 with Bochy as the backup as Pujols was sent back to Triple-A. He batted .249 with 18 doubles and 41 RBI in 105 games for Charleston and was recalled to Houston in September, appearing in 26 games while batting .227 in relief of Ashby, who had suffered a broken finger.

Then in 1980, Astros manager Bill Virdon announced he would keep three catchers on the active roster. This opened a position for Pujols, who made his presence felt in the second game of the year. After entering the April 11 game vs. the Dodgers in the eighth inning – replacing Julio González, who had pinch-run for Ashby in the bottom of the seventh – Pujols hit a bases-clearing double against Steve Howe in the bottom of the eighth, turning a 6-6 tie into a 9-6 lead that became a 10-6 advantage when Pujols scored on Art Howe’s single.

“I feel more confident and comfortable here this spring because I feel I did a good job in September (of 1979),” Pujols told the Houston Chronicle. “I’m glad (Virdon) will probably keep three catchers because it gives us all more of an opportunity.”

Pujols helped lead the Astros to the first division title in franchise history, appearing in 78 games while batting .199 with 20 RBI. He committed just four errors all season and started three of the first four games of the NLCS vs. the Phillies. But in Game 4, Pujols was removed in the eighth inning in favor of Bochy after a Mike Schmidt foul tip bruised his foot. The Astros led 2-0 at that point – with Pujols scoring the game’s second run after tripling off Steve Carlton in the fifth inning and scoring on a Rafael Landestoy single. And Pujols nearly drove in the game’s third run in the sixth inning when Gary Woods appeared to score on a Pujols sacrifice fly off Dickie Noles. But on appeal, Woods was called out for leaving third base too early.

Needing only six outs to advance to the World Series when Pujols left the game, the Astros allowed three runs in the eighth before tying the game in the ninth. But Philadelphia scored two more in the 10th and won the game 5-3. Pujols started Game 5 but was pinch-hit for by Ashby in the sixth inning, and Ashby delivered an RBI single to tie the game at 2. But in a wild ending that saw the teams trade leads, the Phillies won 8-7 in 10 innings to claim the NL pennant.

Pujols’ four games in the 1980 NLCS would become a highlight of his nine-year MLB playing career. He would appear in two more postseason games in 1981 as the Astros met the Dodgers in the NLDS – but Pujols went hitless in six at-bats as Los Angeles won the series in five games. Pujols tallied his best single-season batting average that year, hitting .239 in 40 games after getting the start behind the plate on Opening Day. Virdon returned to a two-catcher roster in 1981 with Pujols and Ashby and continued that format in 1982, with Pujols appearing in 65 games while batting .199.

The Astros, however, failed to make the playoffs in 1982 and Virdon was replaced by Bob Lillis in the second half of the season. Pujols also struggled defensively that year, allowing an NL-leading 20 passed balls – including four in one game on June 24 when Niekro (who was charged with two wild pitches) pitched 10 innings in a 4-3 loss to the Giants.

Pujols made his second Opening Day start in 1983. But with Ashby sidelined with bruised ribs, Pujols was unable to shut down opponents on the bases as teams were successful in 21 of their first 24 steal attempts vs. Houston. The Astros soon called up John Mizerock from Triple-A Tucson and sent Pujols to the same team.

“(Pujols) was supposed to be great shakes defensively, but people were running us blind,” Astros farm director Bill Wood told the Arizona Daily Star. “(Pujols) did not look good defensively this spring and questions about his hitting were in the back of our minds.”

Pujols appeared in 40 games for Houston that season, batting .195. In 33 games in Tucson, Pujols hit .250.

Then in 1984, Pujols began the season with Tucson and played in 110 games, hitting .277 with 10 homers and 58 RBI. He was traded to the Royals in exchange for a minor leaguer on Sept. 1 and got into four games with Kansas City.

A free agent following the season, Pujols signed with the Rangers and won the backup job behind Don Slaught. But before he could appear in a regular season game, Pujols pulled a muscle behind his right shoulder on April 17 and wound up on the disabled list. He re-injured the shoulder in May before entering a May 22 game against the Royals as a defensive replacement, recording a single off Dan Quisenberry in the ninth inning.

It would be Pujols’ only game of the year and the last of his big league career. The shoulder injury, which later required surgery, cost him the rest of the season.

Pujols played in 51 games with the Rangers’ Triple-A team in Oklahoma City in 1986 and nine games with the Expos’ Triple-A squad in Indianapolis a year later. Pujols played his last year of pro ball in 1989 with the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association, helping the team win a division title.

With his playing career behind him, Pujols soon became one of the most respected coaches in the game. Pujols was one of just 35 Dominican-born players in the big leagues in 1985 but would be instrumental in helping a huge wave of players who ascended to the game’s highest level in the coming years.

Pujols joined Felipe Alou’s staff with the Expos in 1993 as the first base coach, remaining as a team coach through July 20, 2000, when he was dismissed. Alou had become the first Dominican manager in AL/NL history when he took over the Expos from Tom Runnells in May of 1992.

“We’re not trying to assign blame here,” Expos general manager Jim Beattie told the Montreal Gazette after Pujols, who was serving as bench coach, and pitching coach Bobby Cuellar were let go with the Expos at 44-48. “But the fact is we’re not winning and we had to show the players that we’re willing to make changes to get better. We’re not looking for scapegoats. We just felt changes were necessary.”

Pujols quickly took a job with the Tigers, managing Detroit’s Double-A team in Erie, Pa., in 2001. Pujols was named Detroit’s bench coach in 2002 and took over as manager six games into the season when Phil Garner was dismissed. Pujols immediately named Alou – who had been fired as Expos manager in 2001 – as his bench coach.

The Tigers finished the season with a record of 55-106. But Pujols and Peña made history on June 25 in a game that brought Hipólito Mejía, President of the Dominican Republic, and Commissioner Bud Selig to Kansas City to see the historic game featuring two Dominican managers.

“You get the big shark from our country (Mejía), the No. 1 guy,” Pujols told reporters. “And you get the No. 1 guy in baseball (Selig) in the same game. This is huge.”

The Tigers named Alan Trammell as manager for the 2003 season, and Pujols went with Alou to San Francisco, where Alou was named manager. Pujols remained the Giants’ first base coach through 2006, after which Alou was replaced by Bruce Bochy and Pujols was not retained. While Pujols was with San Francisco, the Giants captured the NL West title in 2003 and won 91 games the following year.

Pujols managed in the minor leagues in 2008-09 with Double-A Corpus Christi of the Astros’ organization before leading Orioles’ minor league teams in 2013, 2014 and 2016.

In nine big league seasons as a player, Pujols hit .193 over 316 games. But his legacy – thanks to decades as a coach and manager – is that of someone who helped reshape the diversity of the game.

“I’ve never been the kind of guy who jumps on players in front of everybody,” Pujols told the Detroit Free Press in 2002 after he was not asked back as the Tigers’ manager. “I’ll call them in the office to talk to them, but if they want a manager who yells at players in the dugout and in the clubhouse, they should get someone else. Because that’s not me.”

Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum