New Angel Uniform Is an Error, Fans Say

If the feelings of Times readers are an indication, “Wear it and they will come” may not be the best slogan for the local baseball team, which enters the season with a new name (Anaheim Angels), a refurbished, baseball-only stadium, and, yes--sorry, sports fans--new threads as well.

In an informal, unscientific survey, Times readers who called in disapproved of the team’s slick new suits by more than a 2-to-1 ratio, complaining about just about everything from sleeves to socks to shoestrings.

The final tally: No downs Yes, 117 to 49. Score one for tradition, while change takes a whuppin’.

“A big thumbs-down on them,” roared Al Roth, 41, of Lake Forest. “I’ve been a fan of the Angels for more than 30 years. They’d better improve something else before they start changing uniforms.”

One unidentified caller actually accused the new apparel of looking “like something my 5-year-old kid would wear in a Little League game. That little wing on the ‘A,’ that’s pretty cute. That’s really going to intimidate Roger Clemens and Jimmy Key.”

George Santoro, 40, of Fullerton, was only slightly more forgiving, saying, “The logo is fine, but the uniform looks cheap. I’ve been an Angels fan since 1973 and I’m very disappointed.”

E. Michael Linzey, 50, of Irvine, voiced what must be one of the cruelest cuts of all to a macho athlete, saying, “It’s almost feminine and too Disney. The old uniforms were sophisticated and more masculine.”

Jon Williams, 37, of Aliso Viejo, felt that the team’s evolution from cowboy Gene Autry to Mickey Mouse marks nothing less than a descent into corporate ennui.

“Disney is remodeling the stadium; they’ve increased ticket prices; they’ve changed the uniforms; yet the Angels are going to be the same humdrum club that they have been over the past decade,” Williams said. “They’re not going to put any money into rebuilding the program and bringing in quality ballplayers.”

But, of course, not everyone is averse to change, as evidenced by such respondents as Stephen Durrett, 46, of Santa Ana, who celebrated the revised motif as being more symbolic of the progressive nature of Orange County itself.

“The new uniforms are a great change,” Durrett said. “I think it will . . . become something great and special for the county of Orange and the city of Anaheim.”

The bottom line for Manuel Figueroa, 65, of Anaheim Hills, was perhaps the same one being prayed for by every Angel fan.

“We needed a change,” Figueroa said. “Maybe with the change in uniforms, good things will come. When you’re always losing, any change is good.”