A New Game for the Angels

Springtime always sparks more questions than answers on the baseball diamond. So the regime change occurring at the ballpark formerly known as Big A is fueling debate on whether the Anaheim Angels have what it takes -- including the money -- to repeat as World Series champions.

Walt Disney Co. has lost $100 million during its troubled seven-year reign and wants out. Phoenix businessman Arturo Moreno, who is offering $180 million for the World Series champions, is a sports fanatic with a firm belief that he can hit whatever Major League Baseball throws his way. He would be a welcome addition in a sport with an increasingly Latino beat on the field but a frustrating absence of color at the ownership level and the front office and among team managers. Moreno comes from the advertising business and should be able to focus on a Southern California Latino market that the Angels were late to recognize.

A sale would free the Angels from a supporting role in huge but profit-starved Disney. The synergies that Disney expected to develop by owning sports teams (including hockey’s Mighty Ducks, also up for sale) never materialized for its movie, theme park and TV businesses. The media giant led the team to a World Series championship last year but in the past alienated fans with cartoonish costumes, dugouts doubling as cheerleaders’ stages and blaring music.

As showmanship gave way to sportsmanship, Disney hired baseball professionals to rebuild the tattered franchise. Team payroll soared to a then-record $62 million during last year’s championship season, fans began to jam the house that the Mouse rebuilt and even casual fans now are hungry for a second helping of World Series play.

Great expectations could make Moreno an easy talk-radio target should the Angels fade after a purchase. The proposed sale to an out-of-towner also gives fans one more reason to worry that the Angels eventually will take flight. And Moreno must learn to live in the shadow cast by the founding owner, the late Gene Autry.

Moreno doesn’t have much public presence for a near-billionaire. He owns a slice of the Arizona Diamondbacks, enjoys coaching in youth sports leagues and never misses University of Arizona football games. That’s about all that sports fans know.

Moreno’s success in California would be determined largely by his management style -- would he let professionals call the shots or personally move players around like chess pieces? -- and whether his pockets would be deep enough for an increasingly expensive game. Though Moreno has yet to step into the owner’s box, pressure is building among delightfully spoiled Angels fans. All he would have to do is deliver another Series win -- and leave the periwinkle uniforms to the Magic Kingdom.