Albert Pujols has spent 22 years in the big leagues. He doesn’t need any extra help from the umpires, but hey, it didn’t hurt to test Laz Diaz’s integrity.
OK, not actually.
During Tuesday’s game between the Cardinals and Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, Pujols noticed that his gold chain broke in the middle of his third-inning at-bat. Instead of causing an extended stoppage in the action and going back to the dugout, Pujols decided to simply hand the broken chain to the home plate umpire Diaz who put the jewelry in his pocket as Pujols laughed.
He obviously wasn’t bribing the umpire, but the exchange was pretty hilarious nonetheless.
Albert Pujols caught in 4K bribing an ump. Legacy tarnished pic.twitter.com/5ruh5F5l04
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 27, 2022
Pujols didn’t need Diaz’s help either in the at-bat. After fouling off a couple pitches, Pujols hit an RBI single to right field. The Blue Jays ended up pulling ahead to win, 10-3, but fans still had plenty of jokes about that chain sequence with Diaz.