Albert Pujols and Jim Hendry hugged Wednesday, setting off reams of rumors and speculation about whether a hug is a legally binding contract outside of when your cousin is a lawyer while you're playing House. Pujols's free agency is terrifying; I can't and won't deny that. But hugging the general manager of the Chicago Cubs is not cause for alarm. I mean, you want some circumstantial evidence that's nearly as swaying as physical contact?
↵I hear Pujols lives and works in the same National League Central town. He's got significant ties to the community and has been seen hugging people in the vicinity of the local baseball team's stadium. He was drafted by this team and is known to have expressed a strong personal affinity toward the community, and at one point offered them a totally exclusive negotiation window.
↵Now, I know it's not briefly embracing a guy who plays for the Chicago Cubs, but I've always been fond of examining each piece of evidence, no matter how small. I read a lot of Hercule Poirot novels growing up.
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