Albert Pujols: 'Don't Miss A Freakin' Thing' About Baseball

Don't expect any wishy-washy, "Will he? Won't he?" retirement drama from Albert Pujols. It's pretty clear that he is done for good.

Pujols spent more than 22 years in Major League Baseball; more than half of his life. However, he managed to finish on a high.

His final season, which he spent back with the St. Louis Cardinals was phenomenal. He hit 24 home runs and 68 RBIs, a more than significant uptick from what he had done in years. He even cracked the 700 home run mark, finishing his career with 703, good for 4th all-time.

If he had wanted to phone up the Cardinals to say "Let's take one last bite at the apple," they would have sent him a one-year deal ASAP whether that was by courier, fax, or pigeon.

Still, would that high note on which his career wrapped up be enough to make him miss the game? Or even make him want to throw his cleats back on.

Nope and nope.

Pujols Is Confident In His Decision

“People keep asking me if I miss it,’’ Pujols told USA Today. “I don’t miss a freakin’ thing about it. I really don’t. I’ve been playing baseball for 38 years of my life.

“Seriously, I don’t miss it, dude," he said. “It was fun. I had a great career.

“But I am burned out."

Can you blame him? You'd be pretty burned out too after playing 3,080 MLB games? Most of us would probably be sucking oxygen after one month playing like Pujols did.

However, don't think for a second that he's not playing because he doesn't think he can. He knows he can; he just doesn't want to continue for the sake of chasing records.

“Can I still do it? Of course, but I don’t want it. What, chase Babe Ruth next year? Two years later, chase Aaron and then Barry. I’d be an old man chasing people," he said

“I am done. I love the game, but I had enough. You got to ask yourself, when is enough?’’

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.