These Fans Believe in the Angels

Turning out in their finest game-day reds and clutching pictures, bats, hats and baseballs primed for autographs, thousands of Angel fans braved a steady Saturday morning drizzle to attend the first day of the team’s fan festival at Angel Stadium.

And while a few fans may have been looking forward to telling owner Arte Moreno their opinion of his controversial decision to rename his team the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the crowd took in stride the news that Moreno couldn’t attend the annual springtime show-and-tell for family reasons.

Standing outside the press tent with a digital camera in hand, Mark Washburn, 48, of Yucaipa said he had hoped to run into Moreno for a picture.

When told that the owner wouldn’t be making his usual appearance, Washburn chuckled.

“He’s laying low today?” he asked. “I’ve been wondering if he would show. The name change has been a hot-button issue. Laying low right now is probably a good idea.”

Washburn, with his daughter Stephanie, 15, said he didn’t like the name change but felt resigned to it. “You just have to go with it,” he said.

Ed Cooper, 59, of Covina said the team’s name was “not a critical issue. But I think it’s silly.”

Moreno can call the team what he wants, said Galen Metz, 53, of Covina. But “your fan base is not going to drive in from Simi Valley because you changed the name to ‘Los Angeles,’ ” he said.

Anaheim, which has filed suit against the Angels, is scheduled to decide Tuesday whether to pursue the issue.

A dozen teenagers across from the stadium on Orangewood Avenue weren’t going to go with the change so quietly.

Holding signs donated to the city by a local print shop that read “Save the Anaheim Angels!” the teens jumped and let out a cheer every time passing motorists sounded a horn or flashed a thumbs-up sign.

Wearing an Angels jersey and a baseball cap that read “Anaheim Angels,” Patrick Armstrong, 14, said this was his first roadside demonstration.

“If the owner, Arte Moreno, wanted to own a Los Angeles team, why did he buy the Anaheim Angels and not the Los Angeles Dodgers?” he asked.

He said he’d still go to the games, though.

Patrick’s stepmother, Brenda, stood off to the side with her own sign, watching Patrick and her daughter Nicole, 13.

“It’s a good experience for them to learn about standing up for what they believe in,” she said. “They are future season ticket holders. Who better to send the message than the kids?”

But it appeared that most of those who showed up to wander around booths offering food and merchandise at Saturday’s festival were more loyal to the ballplayers -- several of whom were signing autographs -- than to the team’s name.

Carrying a signed Angel baseball cap in a freezer bag to keep it dry, Kris Harris, 39, of Riverside said he cared more about the team than the name.

“They’re still the Angels whether they’re from California, Anaheim or Los Angeles,” Harris said. “I’ll still come to games. It doesn’t bother me -- as long as they don’t move.”

The festival continues from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today.