ST. LOUIS — Albert Pujols listened to the thunderous standing ovation as he rounded the bases Saturday, ran into the dugout and hugged Mike Trout, the cheering getting louder and louder, as the fans who root for the other team in red begged for a curtain call. 

Pujols stepped out of the dugout, waved his Los Angeles Angels cap into the air, ducked back into the dugout, down the steps, into the hallway.

And wept.

“I was so emotional there, I couldn’t help it,’’ Pujols told USA TODAY Sports. “It was amazing. I had to go downstairs for a minute because I was losing it. I was just sitting there and praising God.

“I’m just so glad I could do it for these people because they meant so much to me.

“They still mean everything to me.’’

It’s a love affair that began in 2001, and even eight years after leaving the St. Louis Cardinals, it may be stronger now than it’s ever been in his life.

Pujols may be playing for the Angels these days, but these are his fans. These are his people. This is still home.

Come on, to get a standing ovation every time he steps to the plate, with catcher Yadier Molina even taking off his mitt and clapping? To get a curtain call from the sellout crowd after hitting a home run against their own pitcher, Dakota Hudson? To have Cardinals players actually wanting to cheer themselves the moment Pujols went deep?

It's not every day that you see #STLCards fans request a curtain call after an opposing player's home run. But Albert Pujols is no ordinary opposing player.
The Cardinals and Angels are playing now on FSMW and FSGO. pic.twitter.com/Y2XjrkmEM9

“It was really cool to see the fans’ reaction to that big moment. I think they realize history when they see it. He’s deserved every last one of those cheers," Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright said. "Great man. Great guy in the city. Not even what he did on the field, but what he’s done off the field is tremendous.

“We loved him here. He taught a lot of our young guys how to win, and how to keep that torch going for a long time.’’

The shame, of course, is that Pujols is no longer one of them.

He’s an ex-Cardinal and after Sunday evening’s game, he will most likely have played his final game at Busch Stadium.

Yet, it didn’t have to be this way.

What would have happened if Pujols had stayed in St. Louis and never gone to the Angels?

When Pujols was asked the question, he blinked a few times, rubbed his hands, and let the inquiry dance in his head.

Slowly, he let the words trickle out of his mouth.

“I don’t know, buddy, I just don’t know,’’ Pujols softly said. “Who knows? I thought about it, but it doesn’t do any good now. God put me in the right place at the right time.

“So I would never say, 'I wish I would have changed anything.’ This was God’s plan all along.’’

Would the Cardinals have built a dynasty, winning the 2012 World Series and the 2013 World Series after winning it in 2011, and maybe even in 2014 and 2015, too?

This is a team, after all, that lost Game 7 of the NLCS to the San Francisco Giants in 2012. It lost in six games to the Boston Red Sox in the 2013 World Series. It lost again to the Giants in the 2014 NLCS and the Chicago Cubs in the 2015 Division Series.

You don’t think Pujols could have made the difference, and have three, four, maybe even five or six World Series rings on his hands today?

“You never know,’’ Wainwright said. “Any time you add Albert Pujols to your lineup, you’re going to be better for it. Guys have competed well since, but there’s no replacing Albert Pujols. You can’t replace that presence in the middle of the lineup.

“Probably in ’12, we should have won, we had a 3-1 lead and we blew that. And the (Giants) swept the Tigers (in the World Series). In ’13, we had a 2-1 lead over Boston, lost two games in a row at home, and we could have won that very easily, too.

“Who knows for sure what would have happened, but we learned it’s sure hard to replace a man like that.’’

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Certainly, it was the question on everyone’s minds in St. Louis this weekend, watching Pujols provide these nostalgic moments, while also feeling anguish, knowing it could have lasted much longer.

“I think the emotion of every Cardinal fan was that we were so happy to see him,’’ said lifelong Cardinals fan Brad Hicks, 64, “but there was also that little bit of, 'What if?’

“Could we have beaten the Red Sox? Could we have won two, three, four more championships? Who knows?’’

The Angels' Albert Pujols acknowledges the St. Louis crowd after hitting a home run against the Cardinals. (Photo: Joe Puetz, USA TODAY Sports)

There are questions bigger than the Gateway Arch, but will never be answered.

Would the Angels be a perennial contender if they had never signed Pujols? They not only spent a quarter-billion dollars on Pujols, but doubled down the next year, giving Josh Hamilton $125 million and lefty C.J. Wilson another $77.5 million. 

If they never spent all of the money on Pujols, and simply sat back and watched Mike Trout develop into baseball’s finest player, maybe they would have instead spent the money on free-agent pitchers like Max Scherzer or Jon Lester in the 2014-15 offseason to lead them back to the promised land?

If the Cardinals had kept Pujols, considering his two knee surgeries and plantar fasciitis, could he have remained an everyday player with no DH in the National League? They could not only have been left with a $30-million-a-year player on their bench, but also could have been too financially strapped to turn around and still give long-term contracts to retain Wainwright and Molina.

The reality is that the Cardinals have never been quite the same without the big fella. They have been to the playoffs 12 times since 2000, winning two World Series and four pennants, but now are in danger of missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, which last happened between 1987-1996.

The Angels haven’t been the same, either. They won a World Series and made the postseason six times in eight seasons from 2002-2009, but have reached the playoffs only once since Pujols’ arrival, without a single playoff victory.

“When you look back, I think it worked out perfect for me,’’ Pujols says, “and really, the Cardinals too. With all of the injuries and everything that happened to me, it was the best-case scenario for me playing in the American League with a DH.

“I had so many lower-half injuries. I know what I can do when I’m healthy, but I’ve been pounded by injuries year after year. It’s been so tough.’’

Really, as much as it pains Pujols, it was best he left. He wouldn’t have wanted the Cardinals’ fans see his deteriorating skills as he’s nears his 40th birthday. He has had only a .258/.315/.453 slash line since he left St. Louis.

But it was important for Pujols to leave a lasting impression one final time for his adoring fans.

After homering in the seventh, Albert Pujols steps back up to the plate to lead off the ninth and gets perhaps his loudest ovation of the day. #STLCardspic.twitter.com/4FEM65yEOD

When he homered in the seventh inning Saturday, the crowd roared as if it was 2011 all over again. They showered him with love as he rounded the bases, smiled when Molina threw dirt on him as he crossed the plate, and screamed for a curtain call.

It was Pujols’ first home run in this ballpark since Sept. 22, 2011.

“It was a moment I'll treasure forever,’’ Pujols said.

“This home run was right up there with my 600th home run, if not way above.’’

Pujols has been rejuvenated all weekend by the adoration, with so much adrenaline rushing through his body that he was timed at 4.76 seconds running to first base on an infield single Friday.

It was his fasted recorded time in four years.

If this indeed is going to be the final time Cardinals fans are going to see Pujols, he was going to make sure they saw him at his best, keeping those wondrous memories intact forever.

“This is what I wanted to do, for my family, my friends, and all of these fans,’’ Pujols said. “It’s such a special moment. I’ll never forget this.

“I can’t wait to tell my grandkids about this one day.’’

This proud and passionate Cardinals fanbase wishes the relationship and these moments could have lasted longer than 11 years, but they’ll remember this forever too, and grateful for the chance to say good-bye.

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