Dodgers Can’t Count on Angel Vote

Like cat and mouse, Fox and Disney would seem incapable of living in the same neighborhood. The two media and entertainment giants--Disney operates ABC and ESPN--have waged legal and competitive wars.

However, Michael Eisner, chairman and chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Co., said the Angels would not vote against Rupert Murdoch as owner of the Dodgers.

They will not vote, period. The Angels will abstain. Nevertheless, Eisner suggested he would “have no problem” with Fox owning his nearest competitor.

“We fight it out in the marketplace every day,” Eisner said of Fox and Disney, “but Rupert Murdoch is an outstanding businessman with a savvy group of broadcasters who have done a good job for football, baseball and hockey. I don’t think Peter O’Malley would sell to anyone he thought might destroy his legacy.”

Although the Disney chief, interviewed by phone, said he was frustrated and disappointed by the lack of discipline in baseball’s drug policy and the rejection of the Angels’ suspension of Tony Phillips, Eisner said that hasn’t diminished his excitement over the club’s surprising season and applauded the “spirit and momentum” that Manager Terry Collins has instilled.

He expressed disappointment with an attendance average of 22,574 but believes stadium construction in Anaheim has contributed to that. He said the Angels are ultimately capable of a fan base comparable to the Dodgers.

Toward that end, Eisner said he favored the radical realignment plan that would put the Angels, Dodgers and other teams in the Pacific time zone in the same division. The plan, according to sources, is losing support among owners, but Eisner said it made travel, financial and entertainment sense.

“Our history is in the entertainment business, and the entertainment business is all about change,” he said. “I have great respect for the history of baseball, but we’re not afraid to embrace what’s appropriate, and I hope others feel that way. If not, baseball is not going to be the third or fourth most popular sport, it’s going to be the sixth or seventh.”

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Anaheim Sports President Tony Tavares, a member of baseball’s realignment committee, doesn’t underestimate the lobbying power of acting Commissioner Bud Selig, but believes there is too much opposition and the radical realignment plan “will not fly.”

There are several hybrid alternatives, but the clock is ticking. The owners meet in mid-September, and there is a Sept. 31 deadline for submitting a 1998 schedule to the union for approval. Most opposition to the radical plan that would completely revamp the American and National leagues is centered in the NL, with San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh among the most outspoken foes.

Some of it is based on tradition, some on a feeling that it is too much too soon, some on a reluctance to see universal use of the designated hitter and some, in the case of the New York Mets and Yankees, on a belief that attendance and revenue eventually will suffer in two-team markets when the same teams make repeated visits--no matter how intense the geographical rivalry.