St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols seemed comfortable speaking at his first baseball clinic Monday at Sport 2 Sport, but his message to a group of area youth players stressed avoiding complacency.

“I just want to share with you guys to always give 100 percent to the game, and always make sure that you work hard at it and give it everything you can,” Pujols told 32 high school and junior high players in Kentucky baseball coach John Cohen’s hitting camp.

“If nothing happens in 10 years or five years from now, and it’s not what you wanted, at least feel good for yourself that you gave 100 percent.”

Few probably would believe there was a time the 23-year-old Pujols — who is the only player ever to hit for a .300 average, hit 30 home runs, drive in 100 runs and score a 100 runs in his first three seasons — thought he wasn’t going to make it to the majors.

“It’s something you want to share with kids, because that’s who you play for,” Pujols said. “I try to share what it takes to get to this level.

“Before I came to the states, I knew that I had talent to play pro ball. But I learned the dedication and love that you need to have for this game.”

Pujols, a native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, shared his struggles of growing up impoverished and having to work for enough money to buy a glove. He told the young players they should not only be thankful for the opportunities they have financially in the U.S., but should take advantage of their talent by working hard.

“Just to hear that he had problems like the rest of us when he was trying to make it is kind of neat,” Lawrence High senior Brett McBride said. “He wasn’t always great. He had to work real hard for his spot, even in high school.”

Pujols said he developed his rigorous work ethic with helpful guidance from former Kansas University baseball coach Dave Bingham, who coached Pujols when he played for Bingham’s summer team, the Kansas City Sluggers, after Pujols graduated from Fort Osage High in Independence, Mo.

Todd Reller, an 11-year-old from Columbia, Mo., left, asks St. Louis Cardinals standout Albert Pujols for his autograph. Pujols spoke Monday at Sport 2 Sport.

Bingham — whose Dave Bingham Baseball Academy helped organize Monday’s clinic — said there was no doubt a young Pujols had the talent, but he needed to understand the importance of doing things the right way every time, like running out ground balls and hitting for average.

“What you see is truly what he is,” Bingham said. “He’s an incredibly hard worker, he’s very intelligent young man and very dedicated to this game.”

That motivation came, Pujols said, because he was slighted by pro scouts before he finally was drafted in the 13th round by the Cardinals in 1999.

Bingham said Monday’s appearance was special.

“My son tells this story of when he had finished at Maple Woods (Community College, where Pujols played one semester), and he was drafted in the 13th round,” Bingham said. “As you can tell, (Pujols) was upset by that.

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“We were driving to Colorado for a summer tournament, and he was going to go to Hays and play for the Larks in the Jayhawk league. I can remember riding in that car for four hours from Kansas City listening to him tell the story of how major league baseball had misevaluated him and didn’t understand him, that he was a lot better player and he was going to go prove it.

“A year and a half later he was playing in the big leagues. He was obviously right.”