With Eisner, the Kingdom Lacks Magic

Bill Stoneman was hired as the Anaheim Angels’ general manager Monday.

What, you thought that happened a week ago?

Well, it should have.

Angel President Tony Tavares thought he had Stoneman, a nice man, a subdued man, a former Angel who has toiled in anonymity in Montreal, signed, sealed and delivered a week ago.

But, no.

Michael Eisner, top dog, No. 1 guy, the man at Disney, which owns the Angels, looked at the impressive dossier Tavares had taken great time and effort in putting together, sniffed and said, and we’re guessing here a little, “Bring me more.”

Tavares apologized for the delay Monday. With Stoneman listening, Tavares said, “I’ll take the blame.”

Tavares said he had misjudged his boss. Tavares had thought that if he did the research, conducted the interviews and then presented the winner, Stoneman, to Eisner, the process would be completed.

It wasn’t.

Sorry, but suddenly there is this image of Mel Brooks in the movie, “History of the World: Part I.” Brooks is playing the part of a French king. He has in front of him a lineup of lovely maidens, all at his beck and call. Brooks wanders back and forth, ogling the maidens and giggling that “It’s good to be the king.”

Which brings us to the root of the problem.

As long as Disney owns and controls the Angels, it seems the Angels aren’t going to be very good. At least not good enough to be in the playoffs or the league championships, or the World Series.

How can they be when the men hired to run the team can’t figure out what it is Mr. Disney, uh, Eisner, wants?

What we learned Monday is that Tavares, a proud man, had to bring in a parade of second-choice candidates to satisfy Eisner.

That must have been uplifting for them. Bob Watson, for instance, had gone through a lot when he was George Steinbrenner’s general manager with the Yankees, but, jeez, what fun to come to Anaheim after having read all the stories about how Stoneman was the choice.

We also learned that Stoneman, 55, a loving husband and father, had, quite frankly, turned down chances with the Expos because he didn’t want the burdens that come with being the general manager.

Stoneman said he had, until now, been content to be part of the decision-making process on players and salaries, but that he hadn’t wanted to be the final authority. Because when you’re the final voice, you can get treated badly. People might think and say and write bad things about you. Stoneman didn’t want his children to witness that.

This makes Stoneman a fine father but is it the toughness you want in a baseball general manager?

It is if you are Michael Eisner.

Eisner is most likely very happy to hire a man willing to sit around for a week after he thought he had won the job, sit around and watch other men interview for the job, sit around and watch other teams hire managers who maybe the Angels could and should have hired.

Don Baylor is the person we noticed being hired somewhere else.

Baylor is an ex-Angel and Baylor had indicated he wouldn’t mind coming back. Baylor is an African American and a man who has managed well under difficult circumstances with the Colorado Rockies. Baylor was hired by the Chicago Cubs instead, for, if Tavares is being truthful, no more money than the Angels offered.

The Cubs, as a baseball team, are in no better shape than the Angels. In other words, they stink too.

But the Cubs aren’t for sale. The Angels are. We learned also that the Angels can still be bought. If it seemed that by dawdling before hiring Stoneman the Angels cost themselves Baylor, Tavares said no. Tavares thinks the uncertainty about who will be owning the Angels in the near future was why Baylor chose Chicago instead of Anaheim.

Though Baylor was unavailable to speak about the Angels, that makes sense. Who would want to take a high-profile, high-responsibility job with an organization that could be sold before he managed his first game?

Which leads to the question of who would want to be the general manager in such an organization?

Stoneman says he was not bothered at all by the about-face the Angels did on his hiring. He says it was no problem watching and waiting while other men were interviewed, while other teams hired managers.

But it is a problem.

As long as Disney owns the Angels, the Angels will tread water. Will Stoneman have to have five managerial candidates to parade before Eisner? Five choices as the next Angel catcher or second baseman?

For Eisner it’s good to be the king.

For the Angels?

It’s not so great being the court.

Diane Pucin can be reached at her e-mail address: diane.pucin@latimes.com.

THE CONTRACT

Four years $1.8 million

TOUGH ROAD

Bill Stoneman is taking on quite a daunting task as the Angels’ new man in charge. Page 8

INDIANS GET IN THE SWING

Cleveland hired hitting instructor Charlie Manuel as manager, and Don Baylor was introduced as Cubs’ manager. Page 8