American League : Angels Have Big Plans for 25th Anniversary, Which Starts Tuesday

The Angels will begin a silver-anniversary salute to a tarnished past Tuesday night.

Gene Autry will throw out the ceremonial first ball before the regular-season opener between the Angels and Minnesota Twins.

Autry’s 25-year ownership is now the longest among active owners--if the Dodgers’ transition from Walter to Peter O’Malley is categorized as a change in owners.

A number of commemorative events and promotions are planned, prompting this comment from marketing director John Hays: “What we have, in effect, is a collectors’ year.”

The Angels also hope to make it a year for gourmets.

The club will soon market a number of food products carrying the anniversary logo.

Hays was reluctant to talk about the plan, fearing that a premature announcement would dilute the impact of a planned press conference, but he confirmed that the anniversary logo would soon appear on well-known brands of hot dogs, wine and ice cream sandwiches.

The venture is designed to spread to other products and to extend beyond this season, enhancing Angel income in the same way that the Toronto Blue Jays have profited from the sale of products carrying a Blue Jay logo.

This is the most ambitious project yet for a marketing department formed last year at the urging of Autry’s wife, Jackie, a former banker.

There are other anniversary plans and projects, some of which the Angels have mysteriously neglected to publicize.

All of the 1985 giveaway items, for example, will carry the anniversary logo. Channel 5 will soon show a prime-time commemorative special narrated by Dick Enberg. A three-day old-timers’ celebration, including a game June 16 and a golf tournament June 17, will bring back many former players. There will be nostalgia items on the message board and airwaves.

The crowd at Saturday night’s Freeway Series game found Anaheim Stadium decorated with banners and bunting that will be up all season.

The crowd also heard a revised rendition of last year’s frequently panned theme song. Autry himself was involved in the rewriting.

The previous lyrics had the Angels “Back Playing Long Ball Again” to the melody of “Back in the Saddle Again.” The Angels played long ball in song more than in fact. Also, under Manager Gene Mauch, they are expected to be back playing Little Ball again.

Add Anniversary: The Angels set an American League attendance record of 2.8 million while winning the West in 1982. The club was a disappointment in both ’83 and ‘84, but the attendance of 2.5 million and 2.4 million reflected continued loyalty.

It is evident that the support is still there--despite recent changes in personnel and philosophy. The Angels have sold more than 17,000 season tickets and may surpass last year’s 17,280. An attendance of 1.3 million, which would exceed last year’s total in Cleveland, Seattle and Texas, is already assured.

Dept. of Opinion: Neither side has performed admirably in the Tommy John affair.

The front office, which told John in November that he didn’t fit into the club’s plans and now indicates that he will stay only as a last resort, should have made a move before going to camp, or at least before this final weekend. It has now left itself vulnerable to criticism and second-guessing, and has created an indecisive image.

John, by contrast, should have stated his case once and let it go at that. Always honest and accessible to the media, the pitcher should have said that this was one subject he didn’t want to pursue.

He has had a distinguished career, and his attacks seem beneath him. He has opened wounds that will not heal easily. They may also make it difficult for him to find employment elsewhere. He is not--and has never been--a troublemaker, but fans tend to see only his salary and other clubs remember only what they read today.

John has had a fine spring, but he still has only an 18-26 record over the last two seasons and still has two years guaranteed on his contract. He does not seem to have been horribly mistreated by the Autrys or Mike Port.

Kansas City’s ability to repeat in the West hinges on the young rotation that pitched so impressively down the stretch.

Just as impressive is how fast that young rotation was put together.

The Royals ended the 1983 season with a rotation of Eric Rasmussen, Larry Gura, Gaylord Perry, Paul Splittorff and Bud Black. The average age was more than 35.

The average age of the 1985 rotation is 24 1/2. Charlie Liebrandt is the oldest at 28. Black is 27. Bret Saberhagen is 21, Mark Gubicza 22, and Danny Jackson 23.

The Royals were 70-55 after mid-May, when Willie Wilson, previously imprisoned for a drug violation, and George Brett, previously injured, rejoined the lineup.

“I don’t know the numbers, but I just figure we’re a run better when they’re out there,” relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry was saying the other day.

The numbers: Kansas City averaged 3.25 runs a game without Brett and Wilson, then averaged 4.36 with them.

What did 1984 mean to the Minnesota Twins? The organization that has never drawn more than 1.5 million is now looking at the possibility of 2 million, which is the approximate population of its marketing area.

The Twins have already sold more than 700,000 tickets, among them 8,100 full- or partial-season plans. They sold 2,300 season tickets last year.

One lure: Every season ticket buyer gets an option to buy three tickets to the All-Star Game, set for the Metrodome July 16.

What kind of a year does it figure to be for the Cleveland Indians?

Manager Pat Corrales seems to have a pretty good idea.

“Bert Blyleven is No. 1. All the rest are just in the rotation,” he said.