The Indians reliever has nothing but good things to say about his former teammate in St. Louis.
View full sizeCardinals first baseman Albert Pujols watches his 400th career home run go over the wall on Thursday at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.Clubhouse confidential: Indians closer Chris Perez cannot say enough about Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, who Thursday became the 47th major-leaguer to hit 400 homers.
At 30 years, 222 days, Pujols became the third-youngest to reach the milestone (Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr.).
Perez and Pujols were teammates in St. Louis for parts of 2008 and 2009.
"He's an incredible player and a great teammate," Perez said. "People see all the highlights on TV, but when you get to watch him up-close every day, you realize how many little things he does to help the team win. He doesn't care about the individual accolades. All he cares about is the team's success."
Pigskin Pronk: Designated hitter Travis Hafner will be in six fantasy football leagues this fall. He was in six last season, winning one.
"A down year," he said. "I've made some changes in the scouting department and brought in a couple of new coaches."
In a league made up of Indians personnel, Hafner was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last year by Trevor Crowe.
"Trevor thinks he knocked me out, but I knocked myself out," he said. "I had an off-week, and I just happened to be playing Trevor. It stung a bit."
Defending champion in the Indians' league is the team owned by TV play-by-play voice Matt Underwood and clubhouse manager Tony Amato. This year's draft will be held Sunday night at Hafner's home.
Stat of the day: Hafner entered Friday hitting .356 (21-for-59) with two homers and 10 RBI in 17 games since the All-Star break.
-- Dennis Manoloff