We haven’t said much about That Guy Who Used To Play First Base in a while — probably because, well, he’s gone. And he hasn’t really done much for his new team.

He did hit a home run on Sunday — I heard about it when it was announced over the PA system at the Denver Airport* — and he had two singles on Wednesday night in the Angels 6-2 win over the Twins. Things are looking up, right?

Not exactly.

Check out his reaction toward teammate Erick Aybar after that game here. And then look at how MLB spins it — “Angels playfully celebrate”? Really? “Erick Aybar and Albert Pujols goof around”? Um, OK. Flinging your glove at your teammate, looking at your elbow and then glaring? Fun! Light-hearted! Impish!

Yeah.

As was pointed out here — and thanks to Michael for passing this along — the elbow that Aybar dared to touch is the one Albert has had problems with. Still, throwing your glove? And, as Michael pointed out, that facial expression certainly doesn’t look like he’s kidding around.

It also doesn’t look like Albert’s having much fun playing baseball so far in 2012.

Not that I feel sorry for him. Welcome to the real world, buddy. You get sucked in after a 30-minute phone conversation with a sweet talker and get all kinds of money … and now have to pay the consequences when things aren’t the same as what you’re used to: your teammates, the media, the Cardinals fans’ attitude toward you and the Angels fans’ attitude toward you.

But enjoy those dollars!

And watch that temper.


*Only seemed like it happened, based on the Twitter reaction and MLB’s breaking news tweet at the time.


Christine Coleman is the senior St. Louis Cardinals reporter for Aaron Miles’ Fastball. Follow her on Twitter, @CColeman802, or email aaronmilesfastball@gmail.com. Also follow @AMilesFastball for the latest updates.