ST. LOUIS -- The first 2,073 hits of Albert Pujols' Hall of Fame-worthy career came as a member of the Cardinals, and few had a better view of so many of them than manager Mike Matheny.
The Cardinals' skipper bought Pujols his first suit after he made the club out of Spring Training as a 21-year-old in 2001. Matheny was on deck later that week in Colorado when Pujols lined the first hit of his career, a single to center off Mike Hampton. He watched Pujols collect 787 more as a teammate, then 362 as an opposing hitter, before retiring in 2006.