Team Wants 2005 All-Star Game

The Angels plan to pursue the 2005 All-Star game, hoping to bring the marquee event to Anaheim for the first time since 1989.

“We would love to get the game back here,” said Kevin Uhlich, the Angels’ senior vice president of business operations.

The recent expansions of the Anaheim Convention Center and the Disneyland resort provide plenty of space for the fan festival and corporate hospitality that accompanies an All-Star game. Major league officials prefer awarding the All-Star game to teams with new ballparks; the Angels would love to show off the renovated Edison Field.

The game traditionally alternates between American League and National League stadiums, with the 2003 All-Star game scheduled for Comiskey Park in Chicago. By then, the game will have been played in every new AL ballpark except Comerica Park in Detroit. The Tigers also are interested in playing host to the 2005 game.

The Dodgers are lobbying for an All-Star game too, and one Southern California game would not necessarily rule out another. The All-Star game was played in San Francisco in 1984 and Oakland in 1987.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates are under .500, but the National League Central is weak enough that the Pirates remain in the division race. If they fade as the July trading deadline approaches, and if the Pirates decide to trade away veterans, reliever Mike Fetters said he would love to return to the Angels.

The Angels are looking for affordable relief help. If he becomes available, they could rent Fetters, 37, for $720,000 for the final two months of this season, plus a $250,000 buyout of his contract next season. The right-hander struck out two in one scoreless inning Tuesday. As the setup man to closer Mike Williams, Fetters has a 1.85 earned-run average, with 23 strikeouts in 24 innings.

The Dodgers were in first place when they traded Fetters to Pittsburgh last summer, and he was crushed, since he has played 12 seasons without a postseason appearance. He made his debut with the Angels in 1989 and played for them again briefly in 1998, though he was too young to do much in the ’89 pennant run and was injured during the ’98 run.

“Maybe the third time’s the charm,” he said. “I’d love to have a chance to play in the playoffs with them.”

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Second baseman Adam Kennedy, who expressed frustration and resignation Tuesday over what he regarded as an emerging platoon, did not start against an opposing left-hander for the third consecutive game.

Manager Mike Scioscia said Kennedy will probably start against Kazuhisa Ishii or Odalis Perez, the left-handers scheduled to face the Angels this weekend at Dodger Stadium.