The Angels have seen season-ticket sales "surge in the wake of their blockbuster free-agency signings and plan to build on that momentum with a record number of billboards along freeways throughout the region," according to Chris Casacchia of the ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL. Angels season-ticket sales are "at 22,000, already ahead of last year's total of 21,500," and VP/Marketing & Ticket Sales Robert Alvarado said that the team "has a shot at its highest gate in years." The team is "forecasting about 24,000 season ticket holders once sales are complete for the upcoming season." The Angels have also seen a "20% increase on renewals for season tickets from a year ago," and expect all "25 Angel Stadium luxury suites that became available when last season ended" to be renewed. The team began an "aggressive marketing campaign last week built around" recently acquired 1B Albert Pujols and P C.J. Wilson. The campaign will "peak with more than 70 billboards along Southern California freeways, from San Diego to Los Angeles to the Inland Empire." Alvarado said that that will be the "most billboards the Angels have ever put up." Pujols will be "prominently displayed on many of the billboards," and as Cassachia notes, Angels Owner Arte Moreno "made his fortune in the billboard industry, so it's a familiar play for him" (ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/13 issue). Meanwhile, in St. Louis, Deb Peterson notes photos of the Pujols-themed billboards are circulating and feature the nickname "El Hombre," which Pujols "specifically has said he does not like." The billboard photo that "accompanies the website shows a picture of Pujols from the back wearing his Angels jersey with his name and number five next to the nickname 'El Hombre' in huge white letters on a red background." In an interview two years ago, Pujols said, "I don't want to be called that (El Hombre). There is one man that gets that respect, and that's Stan Musial. He's the Man. He's the Man in St. Louis" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 2/14).
