Deidre Pujols Interview: ‘I’ve Never Seen Hatred Spread so Fast’

Deidre Pujols recently gave an interview to St. Louis radio station JOY-FM to sound off on her husband's leaving of the St. Louis Cardinals to join the Los Angeles Angels.

Pujols said her husband left his team of 11 years because the contract negotiations just didn't work out. Her husband, therefore, opted to go with a sweeter deal offered by the Angels.

Deidre said her husband was insulted by the Cardinals' initial lowball 5-year offer.

When you have somebody say 'we want you to be a Cardinal for life' and only offer you a five-year deal, it kind of confused us, she said.

She said she and her husband got over the insult and still has respect for the Cardinals organization. However, she disputes media reports that her husband turned down offers from the Cardinals comparable to (or at least close to) what the Angels offered.

The offers that people have seen on television, I'm going to tell you what ... had that offer been the one that was given to us, with guarantee, we would have a bird on the bat, she said.

What Deidre seems most upset about, however, is the negative reactions of the St. Louis and Cardinals community against her husband, especially among Christians.

I've heard of pastors who want to burn Albert's jersey and all these things... don't know how to take it when I hear of churches who want to gather Albert's donation jerseys and want to hand them out to the poor folks in L.A, she said.

I've never seen hatred spread so fast, she said.

One additional point Deidre Pujols made was that St. Louis does not own her husband.

He belongs to Jesus, she said.

I don't want Albert to be a possession. He was a human being...He's a man, she added.