Angels’ Dream Is Fox’s Nightmare

Kenny Lofton lifted the final pitch high into the Anaheim night, and who’d have ever thought we’d live to hear this moment?

“Driven into right-center field.... “

Joe Buck is a youngster as network sportscasters go, only 33. This long and winding trail of tears, which haunted a franchise and tormented a region for more than four decades, preceded him by nine years. By the time Buck was born, in April of 1969, the Los Angeles Angels had already become the California Angels, had already moved to Anaheim, had already suffered through three 90-loss seasons, had already seen relief ace Minnie Rojas paralyzed in an automobile accident and numerous other promising careers curtailed by mishap and injury.

“Erstad says he has it.... “

By the time Buck landed the lead baseball play-by-play job at Fox, the Angels had blown the American League championship series three times, in cruel and unusual fashion, and seemed to be giving their emotionally battered fans all the time they needed -- are 16 years enough? -- to brace themselves for another tilt at the postseason windmill.

The voice that took them the final, unbelievable step was vibrant and his delivery succinct, marking the moment with four words Southern Californians long ago assumed they would never hear.

“The Angels! World champions!”

Forty-two years in the aching, and there it was.

Now was that so hard?

The Fox-come-latelys tuning into Sunday’s Game 7 from the other time zones will never have a clue.

Long-suffering local fans might have ground their teeth at the sight of Disney’s Michael Eisner, clad in Angels’ “World Champions” cap and Mickey Mouse t-shirt, taking bows for the success of a team he has spent the last couple of years trying to unload.

(How come Eisner never makes these appearances at Mighty Duck games? Someone on the trophy presentation platform should have done Eisner a favor and directed him to the team’s home rink. Hey, Mike, it’s right across the street.)

As Buck mentioned during the eighth inning of the Angels’ 4-1 World Series-clinching victory over the San Francisco Giants, Eisner “is in charge of this Angel team that’s for sale. The price is going up by the minute.”

This one belongs to Gene Autry, the team’s original owner, who never made it to the promised land. Fox tried to give Autry, who died in 1998, his due by rolling out a video tribute to the Singing Cowboy, accompanied by Autry’s trademark “Back In The Saddle Again.” There were several old images of Autry with his players; it’s amazing how he was able to smile through so much pain and disappointment.

It was just the right touch at just the right time ... except Fox, being Fox, couldn’t help itself, and cut away abruptly from the Autry tribute in order to squeeze in a beer commercial.

Of course, it was a tough night for Fox. This matchup between the archrival Giants and Orange County’s Angels had been called the Dodgers’ “Nightmare Series,” but what about Fox? Not only did Disney win it all on Fox’s dime and time, but did it with a field manager, Mike Scioscia, who essentially was fired by Fox. Scioscia, a World Series-winning catcher with the Dodgers, was a manager in the Dodger farm system before the Fox-owned franchise gave him his walking papers after the 1999 season.

Scioscia kept walking until he reached Anaheim, and three seasons later, Fox/Dodger management had to listen Sunday night and bear it.

“After 42 years in the shadow of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Anaheim Angels step into the spotlight and win the World Series,” Buck observed as the Edison Field celebration began.

A few moments later, Buck and partner Tim McCarver rubbed the Dodgers’ noses in it a little deeper.

Buck: “What a tremendous piece of work done by Mike Scioscia. We mentioned the Angels finished the year last year 41 games out of first behind Seattle. They battled their way through a tough September, they got through the Yankees, they got through the Twins. Finally, in Game 7, they get through the San Francisco Giants.”

McCarver: “Mike Scioscia [was] with the Dodgers, leaving the Dodger organization three years ago. Their loss. The Anaheim Angels’ gain.”

Suddenly, amazingly, the Freeway Series dynamics have changed, with Big Blue brother now assuming the Angels’ long-time task of playing catch-up.

The growing pains were daunting, almost too much to bear. But now, at last, Angels know. Life begins at 42.