ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols plans to participate in the Home Run Derby during All-Star week at the new Busch Stadium.

The announcement was made Thursday in a statement released by Major League Baseball.

Pujols will also join former Cardinals great Ozzie Smith as official spokesmen for the All-Star FanFest, to be held July 10-14 in downtown St. Louis.

The Home Run Derby is July 13 and will be televised live on ESPN.

MLB said more than 80,000 tickets for the All-Star FanFest had already been sold, about 7,000 ahead of last year's record-breaking attendance at the old Yankee Stadium.