Autrys Eager to Start Next Chapter of Lives

The exit door from a conference room in a downtown hotel beckoned, but Jackie Autry couldn’t seem to get there fast enough.

With each question answered, Autry edged away from a group of reporters. Finally, during a lull in questioning, she bolted for the door without so much as a nod or a polite “Goodbye.” She just up and went.

So much for happily riding off into the sunset.

Thursday was supposed to be the day she and her husband, Gene, at last rid themselves of the day-to-day operation of the Angels, turning it over to the Walt Disney Co.

As expected, baseball owners approved the sale of 25% of the Angels to Disney, which will become the managing general partner.

There remains one large stumbling block to closing the deal.

Since Disney and the city of Anaheim still must agree on plans to renovate Anaheim Stadium, and must do so within 60 days or Disney can back out of the deal, the Autrys remain the sole owners of the Angels.

Jackie and Gene Autry have been looking forward to handing the reins over to Disney while maintaining their status as the club’s No. 1 fans. Running the Angels’ daily affairs has always seemed to be a burden for Jackie.

“I’ll be glad to get rid of it,” she said Thursday. “When I married Gene, I thought I’d become a happy housewife, playing golf and taking it easy. Gene’s idea of a vacation is a two-hour drive down the Santa Ana Freeway [from their Studio City home to Anaheim Stadium].”

Often, Jackie Autry seemed ill-suited to her role as the club’s executive vice president, unable to make the Angels winners on the field or at the box office. The Angels have had only one winning season and have lost between $25 million and $30 million since Gene Autry handed her control of the club five years ago.

The Angels fared only marginally better with Gene in charge. They won American League West titles in 1979, ’82 and ‘86, but failed to reach the World Series each time. Autry was one of the first owners to tap into the free-agent market of the 1970s and ‘80s, spending millions to sign such talented but aging stars as Don Baylor, Bobby Grich, Reggie Jackson and Joe Rudi.

The Angels won, but not enough to turn their fortunes from also-ran status.

The Autrys were destined to pay for their free-spending in the 1980s with severe, self-imposed budget constraints in the 1990s. An unfavorable stadium lease served only to darken the Autrys’ financial picture. On the field, the Angels muffed their chance to win one last one for The Cowboy in 1995, failing to reach the playoffs after leading their division for most of the season.

Losing games, like losing money, proved to be impossible for Jackie Autry to stomach.

“I know Gene had been extremely disappointed in 1982,” Jackie Autry said. “When ’86 came, I was better prepared for it. It was still emotionally draining for us. Every time you win, it’s a high point. Every time you lose, it’s an emotional letdown.”

But she acknowledged that losing games will be easier to take when she and Gene don’t have to worry about the daily business of the team.

“This puts Gene in the enviable situation of owning 75% of the team and being able to enjoy himself,” she said. “Going on 89, he deserves that. He’ll be able to relax without the financial burdens. He’s given a lot to this country, to this team.”

Said Richard Brown, Angel president: “He’s a man who still loves baseball, who’s had a very distinguished career in baseball. He brought baseball to Anaheim. Gene Autry single-handedly put Anaheim on the sports map. That will be his legacy.”

Surely, it will be only part of the Autry legacy.

In addition to the Angels, Gene Autry’s business empire once included TV and radio stations, a resort hotel and Southern California land holdings. He cracked Forbes’ list of the top 400 wealthiest Americans, not bad for someone with decidedly humble roots.

As a young man, Autry worked at a $150-per-month job as a telegrapher in Oklahoma, but his life changed when Will Rogers heard him sing at a chance meeting.

Over the years, Autry became known to millions of Americans as “the Singing Cowboy,” making more than 95 movies and 125 records. He had national radio and television shows and toured the country with his own rodeo.

Slowly, he has sold most of his holdings, including KTLA Channel 5 and KMPC-710 in Los Angeles. Selling off 25% of the Angels figured to be the last big transaction.

“What it means,” Jackie Autry said of the sale’s completion, “is less aggravation, less responsibility I have to endure.”