Angels’ Falling Fortunes Seem to Symbolize O.C.’s : Sports: County plagued by bankruptcy, natural disasters and loss of Rams hopes team will bounce back.

Last fall, one of Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly’s biggest worries was keeping the Rams in Orange County.

A year later, Daly no longer worries about the Rams--who are 4-0 and loving life in St. Louis--but about the Angels’ September nose-dive in the American League West standings.

“The winning streak after the All-Star break was about the best it’s ever been for Angel fans,” Daly said Monday.

“They were like a juggernaut. It’s like that Dickens quote. ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’ These are the worst of times.”

They are the worst of times for the Angels (75-63), who have lost 27 of their last 36 games, blown an 11-game lead and trail the Seattle Mariners by two games in the division standings.

Can the Angels, who play the Mariners in a two-game series that starts today, make one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history?

Or will they fall in line with a string of disappointments in Orange County in the past year.

“We’ve had some pretty dispiriting news in the last couple years,” said Leigh Steinberg, a Newport Beach sports agent who tried unsuccessfully to keep the Rams in the county. “There were the fires, floods, an earthquake, bankruptcy and the Rams leaving.

“Optimism and upbeat, good nature were what you thought of for years with Orange County. It was an escape from the urbanization of L.A., the good life.”

But not so good if you’re a sports fan.

“It hasn’t been a great year for the county financially or sports-wise,” said Jack Lindquist, former Disneyland president and co-chairman of Save the Rams.

“I think the county doesn’t have an identity right now. And in the future, we’re going to have to change that.”

The county’s identity took a beating last December, when it declared bankruptcy after high-risk investments depleted a county-run financial portfolio by nearly $1.7 billion, a loss that could jeopardize the future of local government agencies and schools.

“The Angels gave a big boost to the county’s self-esteem, which was just battered by the bankruptcy,” said William G. Steiner, Orange County supervisor. “It gave us a sense of pride and accomplishment. And then. . . .”

And then the Angels had their own shortfall, their 11-game lead eroding as quickly as the county’s credit rating. But Steiner says the analogy holds a glimmer of hope for the baseball team.

“No one was betting on the county getting its recovery plan through the state Legislature in Sacramento,” Steiner said of a bailout package that was passed in the waning hours of the legislative session on Sept. 15.

“Everything was stacked against us. Without that package we would have defaulted, we would have been a deadbeat county. But it passed.”

Sports play an important role in a community, but they must be kept in perspective, sports psychologists say.

Jonathan Brower, professor of sociology at Cal State Fullerton, said communities as large and diverse as Orange County don’t live and die by the fate of a sports team.

“Only a small but vocal minority has that kind of reaction,” Brower said. “For most of us, the team’s fortunes are only mildly pleasurable or irritating.”

But a team that stumbles badly at the end of a promising season could theoretically add to the mental baggage of a region already troubled by bankruptcy and self-esteem problems, Brower said.

Among the national fan community, cities, schools and regions are closely associated with their teams’ persona, he said. Pittsburgh is Steeler tough, for instance, and the Knicks display New York swagger at its finest.

How are the Angels of bankrupt Orange County seen by the fans from afar? When the bills come due, do they come up short?

“It’s hard to say a team would have a big influence on a community or vice versa, but certainly they are closely tied in the eyes of the fans,” Brower said. “The more interesting question to me is, ‘Why are the Angels slumping?’

“People tend to succeed when they visualize success, and they tend to fail when they visualize failure,” Brower said. “Even if they are thinking about avoiding failure, that doesn’t matter.”

The Rams found success in the shadow of the Gateway Arch, where a sold-out domed stadium and millions in revenue await them. The team is off to its best start since 1989, and has already matched its victory total of last season.

“For the Rams to leave and start 4-0 creates mixed feelings here,” Steinberg said. “You have to ask: Why couldn’t they have done that here?”

But Steinberg mentioned this year’s victories by UCLA in the NCAA basketball tournament and Cal State Fullerton in the College World Series as signs of hope for athletics in Southern California.

And the Angels?

“If they don’t make it, the pain for baseball fans would be worse,” Steinberg said. “They were so far ahead, they were a phenomenon, and people adjusted to their newfound status.

“What would be hard is the way they would lose. They looked so unbeatable for several months.”

Although Daly has given up hope on the Rams, he tries to remain optimistic about the Angels.

He said he fully expects the Angels to leave Seattle with a pair of victories. But do his voice and nostalgia betray him? On Monday, he was already talking the talk of a fan of a second-place team. Just wait till next year.

“There’s no worse torture than this,” he said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Do You Believe?

The Angels were picked to finish last in the American League West when the season began. But by mid-July the team was soaring to an 11-game lead. Now they have lost 27 of their last 36 games. A two-game showdown starting today in Seattle and a final weekend home stand against Oakland are their last chances to salvage a dream season.

The setup: After holding first place for 73 consecutive games, the Angels trail Seattle by two

The scene: The Kingdome

The radio: 710 KMPC, 12:30 p.m. today; 4:30 Wednesday

The TV: No local broadcast today; ESPN Wednesday

The records: Mariners 75-63; Angels 73-65

The magic number: Seattle’s magic number is five, meaning any combination of Mariner victories and Angel losses totaling five would give the Mariners their first AL West championship.

THE SCENARIO

* If Angels win both games, they will be tied with Mariners entering the last four games of the season.

* If Angels win one and lose one, they will still be two games out of first with four to play--meaning the Angels would have to win three of their final games while the Mariners would have to lose three for the teams to finish tied. Of course, if the Angels won all four of their last games and the Mariners lost all four, the Angels would win the division title outright.

* If Angels lose both games, the Mariners will clinch at least a tie for the division championship.

The pitching matchups: Today--Angels’ Shawn Boskie (7-6) vs. Andy Benes (6-1); Wednesday--Angels’ Mark Langston (15-6) vs. Tim Belcher (10-10).

The wild-card race: The Angels trail the New York Yankees (74-65) by a half-game. The Angels complete the season with a four-game series against the Oakland A’s beginning Thursday evening in Anaheim. The Yankees finish with five road games--two at Milwaukee and three at Toronto.

Noteworthy: The Angels are 6-4 against the Mariners this season and are 2-2 at the Kingdome. The A’s swept three games from the Angels last week in Oakland.

Researched by MIKE REILLEY / Los Angeles Times