Former St. Louis Cardinals’ star Albert Pujols prefers not to be called "El Hombre" – MLB News
Former St. Louis Cardinals’ star and current Los Angeles Angels’ Albert Pujols is showing his discomfort over a nickname El Hombre which has given to him by his new franchise.
He recently stated in the media as according to his view this name shows disrespect to the Cardinals former player and Hall of Famer Stan Musial. He explained, though he is now in the Angels’ franchise, but it does not mean that he no more cares about anything related to the Cardinals.
Pujols discomfort with the nick name is somewhat right, but the Angels' vice president of communications Tim Mead’s say is slight different and which also helps other to understand this late little argument logically. He said, “From the outset, the billboards and 'El Hombre' were simply designed to be part of an overall team marketing plan. There were no plans to carry the campaign into other areas, and that remains the case today.”
Later the team President John Carpino also tried to explain the situation saying, “That's private. But we handled it. I don't believe so. If it caused any embarrassment for Albert out of respect for Stan Musial, that's the only concern of ours. The Angels respect the legacy of Stan Musial and the career of Albert Pujols too much to let a billboard graphic affect the media's perception of the Angels' opinion of these two great players.”
Pujols is coming with a hefty 10 year deal that will assure his presence in the Angels until 2022. His late slight criticism on a nickname probably would not make any difference among his fans in Los Angeles, but still some baseball sections did say as he should have avoided these little kinds of actions who are directly linked with his popularity in the franchise and city.
On contrary to his late comments, Pujols on the other hand is very optimistic about his new beginning with the Angels. He also knows how big his franchise’s rivalry is with the Los Angeles Dodgers and to attain good results against them, he has to play his best game. Recently busy in Arizona during this year’s Spring Training, Pujols, also believes that the Angels have to play like a one unit in order to show a competitive spirit against every major opponent.
Tags: