Albert Pujols makes spring training debut for St. Louis Cardinals with mind on wife's brain surgery

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Minutes after Albert Pujols smacked the first hit of his second act with the St. Louis Cardinals, he received a text message saying his wife's brain surgery was a success.

As Pujols was getting ready to make his spring training debut, his wife, Deidre, posted on social media late Tuesday that she was preparing to undergo surgery to remove a brain tumor discovered in October.

Pujols signed with St. Louis and arrived in camp on Monday knowing his wife was prepping for what doctors told them was relatively routine surgery.

«But any time you open your scalp and your head, you are always concerned about it,» he said Wednesday. «You trust the doctor that they have that wisdom and that gift. As much as we take swings in the cage, they do surgery.»

Noting that Deidre's mother and family were there to support her, Pujols doesn't plan to leave camp early and return to California to be with his wife. He might head to see her during the off days between the end of camp and the start of the season.

The Cardinals and Pujols agreed to a $2.5 million, one-year contract, giving him a chance to end his career in the place where it started. After a decade in Los Angeles, he returns to St. Louis with 679 career home runs.

Pujols said he has always been able to compartmentalize baseball and life.

«I think about it, but when it's time to lock in, I focus on what I need to do,» Pujols said. «Yes, my thoughts and my prayers are with Didi and my family.»

Pujols played the first 11 years of his career in St. Louis, winning World Series titles in 2006 and 2011. The National League Rookie of the Year in 2001 hit at least .300 with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs in each of his first 10 seasons with the Cardinals.

He signed a