ST. LOUIS — Albert Pujols, the likely winner of a second consecutive National League MVP award, had bone spurs removed from his troublesome right elbow during a procedure Wednesday morning, according to a release from the St. Louis Cardinals. The club went on to say the doctors who performed the procedure agreed that Pujols “did not need ligament reconstruction.”
Pujols will begin rehab next week in St. Louis. No timetable for his return has been set.
The thought going into the procedure — which was done in Birmingham, Ala., by Dr. James Andrews — was that Pujols would be able to return from this surgery in time for spring training activities. The Cardinals and the doctors left open the possibility that upon entering Pujols’ right elbow to perform the surgery a more intrusive operation would be necessary. Pujols has been playing with a tear in the ligament since 2003.
During the surgery, Andrews removed bone spurs and bone chips from Pujols’ elbow. The release makes the point that today’s surgery was not related to the nerve transposition surgery had last season, though it does involve the same joint.
Cardinals team physician Dr. George Paletta was also in attendance at the operation.
More coverage later at The Post-Dispatch.
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(7 votes, average: 3.43 out of 5)
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Can we trade Pujols for Ryan Howard?
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Gimmeeee Ted Williams’ head.
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What is the big deal about removing spurs? I take mine off every day after riding the horses on my ranch. yeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!
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Albert is the best hitter in Baseball. Best spokesman for Baseball to hang it’s hat on. Best Humanitarian in Baseball. He will remain a Cardinal for life. He’s greatly appreciated in this town and across the globe. Don’t any of you trolls that are fans of other teams get your hopes up. You ain’t ever gonna get him. So bug off and go try to ruin someone else’s day you miserable king mixer wannabes. Nothing worse that someone who tries to berate a model citizen athelete with unsubstantiated nonsense. I’m talking to you “Joe” and you too “Carlos Brillo.” Get a life and go do something constructive today instead of just being a jerk. Go clean out your neighbor’s gutters. Do something that prooves you’re a human being. Why would you choose to disparage a class act like Albert? Jealousy? Probably. That’s pretty pathetic.
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Derrick, how can you use the word, niggling, when commenting about Tony LaRussa returning to the Cardinals? You wouldn’t insinuate that LaRussa would be like that, would you? Tsk, tsk, are you trying to get banned from LaRussa’s dugout/post game chats?
nig·gling (nglng)
adj.
1. Petty, especially in a nagging or annoying way; trifling: a pointless dispute over niggling details.
2. Overly concerned with details; exacting and fussy.
——————————————————————————–
niggling n.
niggling·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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El Mujer probably hurt it lifting. Roids help you push on through the pain and make bigger gains….
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Well stated DH.
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God Bless Albert, and God Bless the men and women that serve this country.
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I have been a cards fan my whole life having grown up listening to games on the radio. Jack Buck’s call of game seven in the 1982 world series still echos, as that was the year I was old enough to really care about the game. We have been fortunate to have had some wonderful players over the years. No one can dispute where Pujols falls. He has been the best player in baseball over the past ten years. I hope that he will retire a cardinal. I am having a hard time with all of these comments about how great a person he is. Great ballplayer yes. Great person, no. It is easy to talk about charity and donating your time when you only work 8 months of the year and you are making somewhere between 10 and 15 mil a year. He probably makes 20-30 charity appearances a year. Not that impressive considering. He talks about respecting the game and then stands at homeplate and watches the HR. He says it isn’t about the money. Sign up for 10-12 mil a year and allow the team to spend the other 90 mil on putting players around you. Not going to happen. Do I blame hime for taking the money? No. I would do the same thing myself. But call it what it is, don’t try to make it anything else. People talk about how much he loves the St. Louis fans. Really? Who was the interview after the playoffs granted to? Not STL. I am pretty sure that if he had to rely on his fellow countrymen AP would not be making 100 mil. We pay his salary. Why not talk to those fans that are supposedly so great? Not sure his actions back up his words. Albert is going to go down as one of the greatest ballplayers ever and I am glad that he is a cardinal. But for anyone to think he is any different than any other self-centered professional athlete is giving AP way more credit than he deserves. Great ballplayer, no doubt about it. Great citizen, average at best. Trade him, not unless you have to.
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What he is doing now is just putting the club on notice that he wants to not only be paid, but win as well. sounds like they have another year to continue competing. With good acquisitions this year he may go ahead and sign up for the rest of his career.
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Trade Pujols? Morons. Idiots. Please stop posting. You are obviously suffering delusions and should see a doctor.
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just b/c one nut says something on here doesn’t mean he represents all of stl.
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Everyone needs to stop with the Pujols trade comments. It’s getting old, and Pujols will retire #5 for the Cards. You guys should be ashamed for even mentioning it. He’s the best player in Baseball and the Face of the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s a class act, which doesn’t happen that often in baseball.
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Walter… your an idiot.
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Albert is one of the greatest players and competitors of all time, but he does subject himself to open critizism with his lack of hustle and respect for the game that he often preaches when he doesn’t hit the ball as he expects too. People living in glass houses should not subject themselves to stones of dispersion.
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Thank god Dr. James Andrews was involved. If it was just Palletta…well I don’t want to think about it.
–jw
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I thought the inference that Mark Mcguire was not on steroids was silly until I saw someone bring up the need for us to get the GOP back in power.
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Trade Pujols? Surely you jest! Obviously being a bear a very little brain this has taken enormous thought! The only way Pujols leaves St. Louis is if he wants to. So therefore we have to many trollers on this board with wishful thinking! (Cubbies will always be bears of very little brain)
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patchoulifan,
Quick note: At the time he signed his extension, Chris Carpenter clearly gave the Cardinals a “hometown discount.” And in hindsight it will be obvious that Adam Wainwright did the same in 2008 when he agreed to an extension.
dg
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Don’t you hoosiers in STL have naything better to do than worry about Pujols’ elbow? Who gives a sh-it, there are more pressing concerns in this country right now, we should be worrying about getting the GOP back into power amongst urgent details. I say release Pujols, you sh-it heads will still go through the turnstiles at Busch and make the Dewitts wealthy beyond dreams so what’s the big deal hoosiers?
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Hope the elbow heals quickly Albert. Congratulations on the exceptional year. Forget the trade talk, you’ll be a Cardinal forever.
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Since the Red Sox have broken the curse of the Bambino, why not trade Albert to the Cubbies and break the curse of the Goat. Mo should have a sign on his wall with two rules. Rule one: Don’t trade Pujols. Rule two: If you get an offer for Pujols, see rule one.
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Albert Pujols is not only an amazing player (both at bat and on 1st base), but he is an outstanding representative of St. Louis and the Cardinals. The Cardinals represent the admirable side of baseball — those that play with their hearts, and are known for sportsmanship rather than obnoxious and arrogant personalities. Pujols is carrying on The Man’s tradition, and we would be more than fortunate to have him on our team until he retires. We could trade him for a whole team of talented players, but they could never equal what he has done for this team and this city.
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Lately, I’ve read a lot of comments about trading Pujols. They usually reference how the team could get a lot of players for him.
The other day there was a story about a “home-team discount.” Lots of talk there that McGwire was the only player who truly gave the Cardinals one of those.
Here’s the thing. I can’t expect how any player would ever do that. McGwire did it, and he is constantly savaged by fans on these message boards, even though nothing was ever proved about possible steroid use. Pujols has provided the city a look at a future Hall of Famer, and look how the fans express their appreciation. He’s a bit banged up, hurry, let’s dump him!
Fans seem only to care what a player is doing for them NOW. Once gone, or a bit banged up, see ya pal. How any sports figure can tolerate sports fans at all is beyond me.
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These are the Pujols years. Just as were the Ozzie years, Gibson years, Musial years and so on. We should feel honored to be able to witness this greatness. He will be a Cardinal icon forever.
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To those of you who think the Cardinals should get rid of Albert Pujols, I can say, speaking as a Kansas City Royals fan, that there are plenty of people on the other side of the state who regard him as the one who got away, seeing as he went to high school and college in the KC area.
I agree that many people don’t recognize what a presence like Pujols does for a team. Whether the team as a whole is playing well or poorly, people will come to the park to see Albert Pujols play baseball. And that really helps the team. The Cardinals have had a long string of players like that. Before Pujols, it was Mark McGwire. Before McGwire, it was Ozzie Smith.
If you want to know what the Cardinals would be like without a player of that stature, take a look across the state at Kansas City, where there wasn’t anybody to grab the torch from George Brett. The Cardinals’ disappointments over the last 15 years are better than the Royals’ highlights during that same timeframe.
One other thing to chew on: In 1982, the Royals drew 2,284,464 fans. They didn’t make the playoffs that year. The World-Champion Cardinals drew 2,111,906 fans. That’s the difference a marquee, sure-fire Hall of Famer makes. That year, the Royals had George Brett. Meanwhile, Ozzie Smith, as good as he was, was still establishing himself and was in his first year with the Cardinals.
I’m pretty sure the Royals would be very happy to take Albert Pujols off the Cards’ hands. Even if it takes Zack Greinke, Joaquim Soria, and Billy Butler to do it. That’s two All-Stars, plus the Royals’ best hitter. Deal?
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Benji you dont get on forums much do you. You need to learn what a troll is. Why dont you ask Albert what he thinks of STL fans. Get a clue and go away…
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Trade Albert Pujols? Sure, they could get a lot for him. And sure, an extension means his salary would make up a significant percentage of the team’s payroll in the future, especially if that was coupled with a big Holliday contract. That would really take a chunk out of the payroll. However, if you had a core of Holiday, Pujols, Carpenter, & Wainwright, there still would be a chance to win perennially. They have some young, cheap talent and if they are able to continue to do that you have a winning formula. Can’t we just enjoy watching one of the best baseball players (if not the best) to ever play the game?
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God speed Albert. I hope your rehab goes well. Very good news your elbow ligament does not need to be fixed. I hope that is a diagnosis for you that allows full use of your arm for hitting and throwing. It must have been painful to hit after the All Star Game. My question is: why did you feel the need to blow out your arm by overexerting it at that game? Did you get compensated for doing that? I know fans didn’t want to have you do that, just as Tony didn’t want you taking unneeded chances on running the bases. Good to see you are rehabbing in St. Louis as well; says a lot!
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This surgery just further proves the greatness of Albert. To have the kind of season he had with the balky elbow is amazing. Lets settle this issue now: WE SHOLUD NEVER GET RID OF ALBERT! I have been a Cardinal fan for over 40 years, and he is the best I have ever seen. He is a good citizen, good for the community and charities, and has been the best player in MLB the entire decade! Why anyone would want to get rid of him is beyond comprehension! It shows the total lack of intelligence and reason from some so-called fans! Albert is the heart and soul of the Cardinals!
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The Cardinals fans, don’t deserve Albert Pujols. Shame on You!
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You mean trade him to Cincy, Mr.Jockety?
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People in St Louis, don’t really appreciate what Pujols has done
for their team.
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If the Cards attempt to trade him it will be a sign that his ligament is in bad shape and he will need TJ surgery after all.
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Cards should trade Albert while they can get good players for him
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