Call Harry Weber. Tell the sculptor to start sharpening his tools. Better yet, tell him to grab a hunk of bronze and start chipping away.

Albert Pujols will be a statue. He will stand forever in the Plaza of Champions outside Busch Stadium in St. Louis. He'll join Bob Gibson, Red Schoendienst, Jack Buck and Lou Brock. Maybe he'll be next to Ozzie Smith, Enos Slaughter, Dizzy Dean or Cool Papa Bell. Beside Rogers Hornsby or George Sisler.

The exact spot is of no matter right now. Just know that Pujols - no doubt captured in that sweet and powerful swing - will occupy a place with the icons of one of the most underappreciated yet among the most storied franchises in sports.

The Plaza is for those Cardinals who've had their number retired. Most of them are also in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Pujols isn't yet eligible for either accolade. But those, too, seem a mere matter of time.

So far this season, the reigning National League MVP is playing as if he's trying to reinfuse baseball with the joy it lost to steroids and all the ugliness that went with it. All the fallen icons. All the lying. All the shortcuts.

Through it all, Pujols just kept on playing. He kept on being the man of faith Cardinals fans have come to love.

Because he has such power and plays with such a physically commanding presence, we naturally looked away for a bit. No fault of his, but just because ...

But he just kept on playing. Playing through an elbow injury. Playing through the clouds that darkened the game and almost made us forget about him.

Now he's reminding us just how good a baseball player can be. Reminding us again. Sixteen games into 2009, he's batting .345, has six home runs and 21 RBIs. With two more RBIs, he will be the next active player to reach 1,000 RBIs (unless the Mets' Carlos Beltran, who has 999, gets there first).

If New York's Johan Santana has all but etched his name on this year's Cy Young award, Pujols already has one batting-gloved hand on what would be his third MVP plaque.

In three seasons, Pujols becomes a free agent. He'll be only 32 and poised to become rich beyond measure. (I am assuming we're out of this dang recession by then.) Big-market teams will no doubt make their big-market pitches. And anything can happen. Already Cardinals fans are fretting about his possible departure as much as Cavs fans are regarding LeBron James.

But few players in baseball are as aligned with their franchise, with their community, as Pujols. (Think Derek Jeter, only more so due to St Louis' small-town aura.) He and his wife are no arms-length philanthropists. They have a daughter with Down syndrome and their Pujols Family Foundation has raised millions to support research to find a cure and to aid families with similarly afflicted children.

In fact, in this era of chase the cash, few players in sports are as aligned with their team and fans.

So I think he'll be there. I think he'll take near fair-market value from the Cardinals' ownership and continue to produce RBIs in bunches and continue to show us the power of legitimate power.

Call Harry Weber. Start chiseling that swing. The one we almost forgot.

AP photo