ANAHEIM –- None of this really matters, at least not until Friday, but when Albert Pujols walked up to the plate with the bases loaded in the third inning Monday night, it might as well have been the real thing.
The Angels brought Pujols to Anaheim – and signed him for $240 million over the next 10 seasons – for these kinds of moments. Why wait until the regular season to see how he handles them?
It might have been electric – Pujols' first game at Anaheim Stadium, with a crowd of 33,111 collectively holding its breath – but it went flat quickly.
Dodgers relief pitcher Todd Coffey never gave Pujols much to look at, and Pujols drew a walk that gave the Angels their first run in a 12-3 Freeway Series victory.
Not to worry. Big Albert will have more opportunities when they count.
His line wasn't much to speak of – 0-for-3 with one RBI – but he proved in the Arizona heat that he's ready to make his official Angels debut Friday night against the Kansas City Royals. He's hitting .386 with 13 extra-base hits and 18 RBIs in 21 spring games.
"I know how to play this game," he said in a late-afternoon press conference at Angel Stadium. "I know what I need to do to go out and play. I've been playing the game at this level for 11 years."
Even so, the expectations are high. The mere additions of Pujols and starting pitcher C.J. Wilson, who was signed away from the Texas Rangers, have made the Angels prohibitive favorites in the American League West. But even if the two of them have big seasons – Pujols is a .328 lifetime hitter, and Wilson won 31 games the past two years – other things must fall into place for the Angels to experience success.
For starters, Kendrys Morales must prove he can play every day in his return from a broken left ankle suffered in May 2010. Vernon Wells must show that last season's drop in offensive production (.218 average, 66 RBIs) was an aberration. Closer Jordan Walden must provide consistent help at the end of games.
There's also the touchy issue of what to do with Bobby Abreu, who is having a horrendous spring and is currently a man without a position. Will he be happy with an occasional start, or will he be a clubhouse distraction?
Pujols, at least, has been rock steady. And that's a good thing. He understands that expectations come with his status as the game's best player, but he reacts just as you would expect.
"To tell you the truth, there's only three times I feel pressure – my first at-bat in spring training, my first at-bat on Opening Day and my first at-bat in the playoffs. The rest, it's just baseball," he said.
The Angels are surrounding him with a potentially strong lineup. Morales, who had a run-scoring double, looks fine so far. Mark Trumbo hit a home run in the seventh, giving him five this spring. Wells and Torri Hunter are veterans who, if they play according to their histories, will give the Angels power from No. 3 to No. 7.
Asked if this lineup is the deepest he's ever had, manager Mike Scioscia said, "It has the potential to be, but we need to get it done on the field. Whatever you see on paper, you can crumple it up. We've got to go out and do it."
The importance of these games with the Dodgers isn't what it used to be, most likely because the teams now play on a regular basis during the season. But Pujols was greeted warmly when his name was announced in the starting lineup, and when he came to bat for the first time in the third inning, a number of fans rose to their feet.
Oh, they would have loved it if he'd given them a grand slam, or even a single. It would have hardly mattered that it was an exhibition game. Any statistics compiled during spring training are quickly forgotten once the first pitch is thrown in the regular season.
OK, so he walked. And he never got the ball out of the infield in his other three trips to the plate.
But when Friday comes, he'll be ready. He's ready now.
