Bid Brings Anaheim, Angels Together Again

Economics makes strange bedfellows too.

As the Angels and the city of Anaheim wage a court fight that could cost each side more than $1 million, they have teamed up in a bid to bring the championship round of the World Baseball Classic to Angel Stadium.

The Angels, working with the city and the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau, have submitted a bid to conduct the semifinals and finals of the inaugural tournament next March. The Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros also are believed to have met this week’s deadline for bids.

With such dramatic scenarios as Roger Clemens of the United States facing Vladimir Guerrero of the Dominican Republic, the commissioner’s office and the players’ union consider the tournament an overdue international showcase for the sport. Major league officials plan to announce details of the 16-nation tournament, but not the host city for the championship round, at a news conference Monday.

The Angels’ bid highlighted the feasibility of a fan festival in the stadium parking lot or at the Arrowhead Pond, ample hotel space, Disneyland and other tourist attractions in the area, the Southern California diversity that would draw fans to support countries besides the United States, and the base of potential customers among the Angels’ 28,000 season-ticket holders, according to Angel President Dennis Kuhl.

The bid included a letter of support from Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle.

Two weeks ago, the Angels infuriated city officials by releasing excerpts of Pringle’s deposition in the city’s lawsuit against the team. The city has sued the team, charging that the new name, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, violates the stadium lease.

The trial is set to start Nov. 7. In mediation sessions that proved fruitless, the Angels floated the concept of keeping the new name while helping to promote the city, which claims the name improperly deprives Anaheim of national prominence.

Since the World Baseball Classic would bring tourist dollars into Anaheim, and since the city could not bid independent of the Angels, the team appears to be making good on its promise not to forsake the city out of spite.

“The city’s position has been very similar,” Pringle said. “We want to help the Angels be successful. Their success is our success as well. On this issue, both perspectives meet very happily.”

Said Kuhl, “Working with Anaheim, besides the lawsuit, has been great. There are so many opportunities for us to work together. Hopefully, when all the dust settles, we can concentrate on bringing great baseball to Anaheim.”

The Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau issued a statement in January, opposing the name change as “very confusing to the consumer. Anaheim is not located in Los Angeles, and we have worked very hard to establish a separate identity from our neighbor to the north.”

Nonetheless, bureau President Charles Ahlers and his staff assisted in presenting the bid for games that would be hosted by the L.A. Angels.

“This is a good thing for the area,” Ahlers said. “I think everybody realizes that.”