In a SportsCenter interview with Colleen Dominguez, Angels slugger Albert Pujols said his objection to the Angels' "El Hombre" billboard campaign wasn't strictly out of deference to Stan "The Man" Musial.
"No, I'm not comfortable with that, because I believe there's one Man and, believe it or not, it's God," Pujols said. "God is the Man and there's another Man, Stan "The Man" Musial in St. Louis. I know six years ago, when people first started making jerseys, I wasn't comfortable with that because of the respect I have for Stan Musial."
The Angels have built their 2012 marketing campaign largely around Pujols, their $250 million acquisition, with 20 of 70 billboards in Southern California bearing the "El Hombre," nickname. Pujols said he's OK with it for a month or two, because he doesn't feel like it's intended to show a lack of respect to the Cardinals. The Angels have said the "El Hombre" campaign likely won't linger much past Opening Day.
"If they would have come up to me, maybe I would have told them I don’t know about it, but I’m fine and hopefully people can move on," Pujols said.