Disney Days Are Done

Disney has just sold a sports team, and you’d think it would feel Fantasia.

It doesn’t.

The Angels have just been bought by a guy who could make them look more like the Dodgers, and you’d think things would be just Grichy. They’re not.

In the Be Careful What You Wish For Department, the Angels’ long-maligned corporate suits have apparently finally sold the team to a rich guy who reportedly loves sports and family and winning.

And it scares us to death.

Arturo Moreno buying the Angels is like a stranger buying a once-ramshackle neighborhood hut shortly after it had been renovated into a mansion.

The neighbors are gathering on the sidewalk, peering into the windows, and wondering.

What’s he going to do to the place? Paint it pink? Blacktop the lawn? Put up a fence?

And when it finally has been fixed!

So many questions, so much uncertainty, the strangest of championship parade routes. It began last October at a theme park, and ends this week in angst.

We know the new owner once coached his kid’s little league team.

Does this mean he likes tiny shortstops?

We know the new owner became rich running a billboard company.

Surely he never sold one in the shape of a giant “A?”

We know the new owner used to own part of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Does that mean Angel pitchers have to start wearing mullets?

Never thought anybody would miss Disney, but, well....

It gave Southern California a sparkling ballpark, and a world title, and find the rodent jokes in that.

Disney showed us that treating sports as a business doesn’t have to be a three-letter word spelled F-O-X, not when you put it in the hands of bright minds and baseball guys.

It took a while, but The Mouse got it right, which makes it a fitting part of the cursed Angel history that it is saying “Goodbye” just when it finally figured out, “Hello.”

And who exactly got next?

Not exactly sure.

Arturo “Arte” Moreno, 56, could be anybody.

He could be the next Peter O’Malley or the next Donald Sterling.

He could a visionary like Jerry Colangelo or a villain like Bill Bidwill.

We know very little about the Arizona man, who is reportedly a polite recluse, which is fine as long as he shows up to explain himself when he names Lute Olson the new general manager.

Whoever he is, we can always hope.

We can hope that his reported $940-million net worth will allow him to maintain the Angels as champions even though Disney decided it wasn’t worth the stockholder’s trouble.

The organization is in such good shape that there will be few issues immediately, but next season could be the final one here for the likes of Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus and Bengie Molina.

Nobody is more important to the foundation than Mike Scioscia, who is probably the most underpaid manager in baseball, and that also needs to be addressed.

About the Outdoor Systems billboard company that he aggressively directed -- he once spent $1 billion acquiring another company -- Moreno told the Arizona Republic, “We have a big appetite.”

Even though this business won’t make him as rich, let’s hope he’s still hungry.

But not so hungry that he becomes a glutton for control.

As the boss of Outdoor Systems, Moreno was famous for asking that disgruntled clients bypass their sales representatives and call him directly. Can you imagine Brad Fullmer calling him to complain about a benching?

He was also known for his distaste in modern conveniences. He didn’t allow his employees to have voice mail, and he had no secretary.

Maybe a hand-operated scoreboard is next?

Here’s hoping that, as the first Latino owner in Major League Baseball, Moreno also realizes he has a chance to reach out to the community while increasing his fan base.

The largely Latino neighborhoods in Orange County are largely invisible at Angel games. It only makes good business sense to change that. Nobody in town appeals to every corner of the population more than the Dodgers, and nobody draws more consistently.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what he’s going to do in the community and to the team,” Molina said. “I don’t know what to expect out of him because I don’t know him ... he’ll make a big impact on Latino players, hopefully, and an opening for us to come play in the big leagues.”

Just don’t count on any breaks, for anybody, at least not judging by another sports team he once owned.

It was the 1987 minor league Salt Lake City Trappers. They won 29 consecutive games, a professional record. And you know what he said about them afterward?

“Nobody is interested in past performance,” he said. “They’re interested in what you’re going to do. If you play baseball, it’s your next at-bat.”

Sounds good, Arte Moreno.

You’re up.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com.