Down 2-0 to Moreno, City Faces a Choice

Baseball is often about risk/benefit ratio.

Should you take out the pitcher after he gives up a couple runs or leave him in?

Let the hitter swing away or tell him to take a pitch?

Do you hit and run or let the runner try to steal a base on his own?

Pinch-hitter? Pinch-runner? Bring in the lefty? The righty? Throw the fast ball or the curve?

All these decisions to make ... and that’s before you even get to the post-game spread and have to decide whether to go with the chicken or the pasta.

In short, this is not an easy game to play. You make the wrong call and it’s the ballgame, baby.

The Anaheim City Council now finds itself with a tough call to make.

To move our story along, I’ll assume most of you know that Angels owner Arte Moreno has made quite a daring move -- for business reasons, he’s changed the name of our local major league club from the Anaheim Angels to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

This is the baseball equivalent of the hidden-ball trick. That is, it may be legal, but it’s tacky, tacky.

Already, Anaheim officials are saying about Moreno, “We just didn’t think you were that kind of guy.”

Well, he is, and now Anaheim has a decision to make. Does the city pony up a million dollars to fight Moreno in court or let him have his way? Like any decision during a ballgame, the city’s decision comes with context: So far, Moreno has won the first two rounds in court.

With that in mind, does the city pack it in? Does a baseball manager pinch-hit just because the batter has struck out twice earlier in the game? Or does he play a hunch and let him face the same pitcher again?

The City Council will make its decision with the teeming masses screaming in its ear. Some will be urging the council onward -- “Take the bum to court!” -- much like an Angel Stadium crowd in September imploring manager Mike Scioscia to change pitchers.

Other Anaheim residents will implore the council with equal passion -- “Don’t blow our money!” -- much like a crowd begging Scioscia to leave the pitcher in.

You think Fantasy League Baseball is fun?

How about Fantasy League Law?

If the city wins, the Angels might be on the hook to repay the city millions of dollars for reneging on the team’s contract to keep the city’s name in identifying it.

If the city loses, it’s down a million or so. Is it really worth it to spend that kind of dough with no guarantee of success?

I’d make a lousy baseball manager. You have to make decisions too quickly. I’d make a lousy Anaheim councilman too, because even though there’s ample time to decide what to do, I’m still not sure.

I’ve thought from the start that Moreno clearly violated the intent of the city’s lease agreement. Legalisms aside for the moment, it’s absurd to think that the lease the city signed with the previous owners ever was meant to embrace the notion of “Los Angeles” being attached to the team name.

In court, however, you don’t really get to put the legalisms aside. That’s why they call it the “legal” system.

Still, I can’t shake the thought that the city could win. I can picture a judge saying, “The intent of the lease, even if not perfectly articulated, is crystal clear. There will be no hidden-ball tricks in my courtroom.”

Easy for me to say. I don’t live in Anaheim. It’s not my money.

Let’s just say I’m darn curious as to how it would play out, and the vexing thing is that we’ll never know unless the city goes to court.

Sometimes you just have to make the call, such as Scioscia bringing in Jarrod Washburn to pitch to David Ortiz in last year’s playoffs. You’ll remember that Ortiz promptly ended the Angels season with a home run.

Win some, lose some. You just never know.

In baseball parlance, that’s why they play the game.