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Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Angels And Red Sox And Snakes, Oh My!

The Rev chortles about a Times report indicating a possible three-way trade, where the Angels get Manny Ramirez, the Diamondbacks move Troy Glaus to Boston, and the Angels send a prospect to each of the Sox and Snakes. Kind of ridiculous if you asked me, especially in light of equally ridiculous reports of the Angels pursuing Paul Konerko. "Explore" is the operative word, though, so let's hope the Angels don't pull the trigger on any of these deals.

Unfortunately, Ken Rosenthal has already suggested a change of opinion in the Boston front office, with Luccino and all the other factions on board for a trade -- that is, those that are left standing. Peter Woodfork, Red Sox director of baseball operations, is expected to take the AGM job in Arizona, complicating any Manny trade.


In related Angels news: superior court judge Peter Polos "ruled that the city of Anaheim could argue that the team's marketing strategy is in violation of the stadium lease", from the article above. I've never thought much of Arte's strategy, and expect the name will revert to Anaheim after the suit is over.

Comments:
As a lifelong Dodger fan who only tolerates the Angels, I have been very envious of the quality of ownership down south. Arte pretty much out does Frank in all things. However, the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" gig is not one of Arte's finest ideas. The club will be much better off when it changes it's name back to Anaheim.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, will be much better off when Frank packs his bags.
 
Once the ink dries on the Fox cable deal, Arte can go back to the "Anaheim" moniker without too much grief. Either way, my answer remains the same: just win.
 
Arte is not going back to the "anaheim" label. Their 3 letter ticket (well outside of McCourt's personal castle) will remain LAA. Granted, they are differing opinions on the whole name change, yet I feel it was one of Arte best moves.

1) Most baseball fans follow the sport with very casual interest. Although the team plays in OC, reverting back to the originial name will draw more fans fr/ north of OC.
2) The new TV deal. Angels are now on equal footing with the Dodgers financially (in regards to TV rights), in fact Angels received better ratings than the Dodgers.
3) The team lost an insignificant amount of fans (Anaheim mayor? oh wait he did attend a playoff game) and has the potential to market the brand to Latin America, and throughout the America. Nobody really has heard of, or cares about Anaheim.
4) You think the Giants or Jets would have nearly the popularity or revenue if they were the New Jersey Giants, or East Meadowlands Jets?
 
In my opinion, while it makes an attempt to attach the team to a larger market, the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" is just ridiculous. It sounds way too desperate and pathetic, as though they ran out of marketing ideas and are trying to make themselves seem more grandiose than they are.
I've lived in both Anaheim and LA. Whenever I told people I lived in Anaheim, they said, "oh Disneyland"...whenever i told people I lived in LA, they said, "Oh...the traffic is awful there, no? And it's kind of dirty..." I don't see how changing the name to LA is at all advantageous, especially since most people immediately saw through the ruse.
 
One thing you can say, and that is Arte knows marketing. Jackie Autry believed the fiction that said the Angels' territory was Orange County, which was always a fraud. Arte's rename recognizes the fact that both the Dodgers and Angels share a common media reach. I don't think it will survive a court challenge, but you've gotta give the man props for giving the "territory" nonsense the boot it deserved.
 
All I know is, whether I live in LA or OC, when an Angel game ends on KCAL, I would see the same newscast.

They were changed to Anaheim as a free add for Disneyland and so go back to either of the first two names.
 

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