When it comes to iconic Latino baseball players, you have to start with Albert Pujols. The Dominican icon known as “La Maquina” was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999. And across his career with the Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, the former first baseman and designated hitter surpassed 3,000 career hits, became only the fourth player with 700+ home runs, was the National League’s Most Valuable Player three times, Silver Slugger six times, and won the Gold Glove award two times.
All of this to say he’s one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
Remezcla spoke with Albert Pujols about managing the Dominican Republic at the WBC (World Baseball Classic), being part of MLB opening night on Netflix, and the Dominican players he admires and is looking forward to this MLB season.
With the WBC just finishing on March 17, we dived into that first. Pujols was the manager for the 2026 WBC after a successful managerial debut in the 2024-25 Dominican winter league. And while the Dominican Republic didn’t make it to the Championship, they played very well and made it to the Semifinal. And for Pujols, there’s nothing like representing the Dominican Republic on a worldwide stage.
“I think the WBC, having the opportunity to represent your country for two weeks and every three or four years, it’s an experience that goes beyond a World Series,” Pujols said. “For me, having the opportunity to play in the first WBC in 2006, and then now as a leader of the Dominican Republic team, it was a pleasure. It was an honor. And even though we didn’t win the championship, I think we feel super proud of the work that we did.”
They weren’t the only ones feeling proud to see the Dominican Republic at the WBC. Across the two weeks, social media was flooded with videos of Dominican Republic fans bringing their all. There was singing, dancing, and just this undeniable joy that comes from the Latin American connection with baseball. For Pujols, it’s all down to our culture. We’re just built differently when it comes to baseball.
“I think that it runs through our blood, the love for baseball, the passion, the discipline, the education. It’s something that you have to grow with in your heart,” Pujols said. And it starts when you’re little for Dominican kids. “When you’re born, and you turn one, the first thing they give you is a glove, a bat, and a ball. And that’s something that runs through our culture. Many of the best players in the big leagues right now are Dominicans.”
This is where Pujols started dropping names.
“The best-paid player is Dominican,” Pujols said, referring to New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto. Soto signed a 15-year $765 million deal with the New York Mets in December 2024. “The second-best-paid player is Dominican, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. So it’s a country that we have been blessed with, first of all by God. Our flag is the only flag that has the Bible in the center of the shield of our flag. So, we feel super proud to represent our country.”
As for this season in particular and who Pujols is looking forward to, he’s got his own list ready. And of course, it’s all Dominican players.
“For me, it’s always Fernando Tatís Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Juan Soto, and Julio Rodríguez. Geraldo Perdomo, who had a tremendous season last year with Arizona. Ketel Marte, with Arizona as well. And on the other side of the pitch, Sandy Alcántara, Cristopher Sanchez, who just signed a tremendous contract.”
If you watched this year’s WBC, a lot of these names might be familiar. “They’re guys that I had the opportunity to be with in the WBC, and create good memories with them that I’m going to have forever with me. And really, I’m always wishing them success.”
As for MLB Opening Night, it will feature baseball’s Pujols on the analyst desk alongside Emmy Award-winning Elle Duncan as host, 7-time Most Valuable Player and 14-time All-Star Barry Bonds as analyst, and World Series champion and 3-time All-Star Anthony Rozzo as analyst.
When talking about the opportunity to work with Netflix on this, Pujols said, “I’m very grateful, first of all, to God for this opportunity. I think that Netflix, as everyone knows, is an outlet that will give the opportunity to many fans that maybe don’t know about baseball to learn a little more about the sport.”
Pujols went on to add, “I think that opening day is a day that will bring a lot of beautiful memories for me, like I had in my career. And I think that being part of this group, working with CCC Sabathia, Barry Bonds, Anthony Rizzo at the same table, it’s really a pleasure.”
Netflix MLB Opening Night pregame by Adobe begins at 4:00 pm. PT/7:00 p.m. ET. The game between the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants begins at 5:00 p.m. PT/8:00 p.m. ET.
Travel and accommodations were provided to the author by Netflix for the purpose of writing this story.