It’s easy to forget, 18 seasons later, what a phenomenon Albert Pujols was back in 2001. Remember, he had spent almost all of 2000 -- his only season in the minors -- in the Midwest League. Baseball America ranked him as the St. Louis Cardinals’ No. 2 prospect behind Bud Smith and projected he’d start the season in Double-A. Most baseball fans had never heard of him.
Instead, he was so good in spring training that Tony La Russa insisted he make the big league team. Pujols did, essentially skipping three levels, and the 21-year-old went on to hit .