Angels Should Say No to Ex-Dodgers

The poor Angels. They’ve never been able to escape the shadow of the Los Angeles Dodgers. And one big reason is they can’t resist Dodger leftovers.

The latest example is new manager Mike Scioscia, the fourth former Dodger to hold that job for the Angels.

Countless Dodger players have finished up their careers with the Angels. In the front office, the Angels hired former Dodger exec Buzzie Bavasi (and later Buzzie’s son, Bill). They even signed a former Dodger, Don Drysdale, as a broadcaster.

My suggestion to the Angels: Establish your own identity. If you’re offered an ex-Dodger, just say no. (Or, “I think Knott.”) And get rid of the Angels nickname, which referred to the team’s beginnings in L.A.

Call yourself the Anaheim Mickeys, the Anaheim Brens, the Anaheim Anteaters (or has that been taken?), the Mighty Oranges--anything but the Angels, for heaven’s sake.

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TAKE THE HUNTINGTON BEACH FREEWAY TO THE BEVERLY HILLS FREEWAY: UC Irvine’s Orange County Annual Survey found 24% of those polled recommended “more freeways.” They would love the state’s 1958 master plan for freeways (see map).

Had it been carried out, Orange County would have added the Huntington Beach, Yorba Linda and Pacific Coast freeways, while lengthening others.

L.A. County would have added the Beverly Hills Freeway, the Reseda Freeway, the . . . but you don’t want to hear it.

Think of all the freeway numbers you would have to memorize to understand the traffic reports from the thousands of helicopter pilots who would be buzzing in the sky.

Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (800) LA TIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.