Dodgers Tried to Come to Bat for Anaheim

Although they publicly pledged to stay out of the court fight between the Angels and the city of Anaheim, the Dodgers quietly played a key role in helping Anaheim attorneys obtain what could be a crucial item of evidence in the case.

Under pressure from the Dodgers, sources said, Major League Baseball permitted Anaheim attorneys to secure a vital court declaration from Tony Tavares, the former president of the Angels and current president of the MLB-owned Washington Nationals.

“What we did was encourage them so the right information would be out there for the judge to make a sound decision,” said Howard Sunkin, the Dodgers’ senior vice president of public affairs.

In its lawsuit against the Angels, Anaheim contends the team broke its stadium lease by adopting the name the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

In his declaration, Tavares corroborates the city’s claim by saying the lease was designed “to give Anaheim prominence ... so that Anaheim would be publicized when the baseball team was publicized.”

Tavares negotiated the 1996 lease on behalf of the Walt Disney Co., then the Angel owner. The city needed him to provide Disney’s side of the lease negotiations.

After the Angels announced the name change Jan. 3, city attorneys promptly asked to speak with Tavares, sources said, but MLB officials advised him not to cooperate in the absence of a subpoena. Those officials, sources said, saw no reason why an MLB executive should voluntarily provide evidence that could be used against another MLB team.

In a Jan. 7 declaration that addressed a narrow legal matter but did little to help the city’s case, Tavares said he had refused to speak with city attorneys “due to my reluctance to be drawn into the dispute without a subpoena.”

At that point, Sunkin said, the Dodgers were asked for assistance.

Mike Rubin, the lead attorney representing Anaheim, said he had spoken with a lawyer representing the Dodgers but declined to say why, citing the continuing litigation. Rubin said he could not say whether Tavares would have provided additional information without the Dodgers’ help.

“I think I was persuasive,” Rubin said, “but there could be forces I’m not aware of.”

Dodger co-owner Frank McCourt declined to discuss details but said he believed information should not be suppressed.

“I don’t think people should interfere with the process,” McCourt said.

After MLB relented, Tavares provided a Jan. 20 declaration fully supporting the city’s position that a clause requiring the team name to “include the name Anaheim therein” was not written so that the name of another city might be added.

Disney had not decided whether to use “Anaheim Angels” or “Angels of Anaheim,” he said, but the company had “no intention ... of reserving the right to include two geographic names in the team name.”

The Dodgers have publicly scoffed at the Angels’ new name, with McCourt saying, “True Angelenos really know who their team is, and they bleed Dodger blue.”

At a charity dinner at Universal Studios last week, McCourt mischievously presented baseball Commissioner Bud Selig with a blue cap with the inscription “Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles.”

Behind the scenes, however, the Dodgers are not laughing. Although Selig says the Angels’ name change cannot hurt the Dodgers and has rebuffed their requests to stop it, a high-ranking baseball source said, they wonder why Moreno should be allowed to annex their name after paying half the price to buy the Angels that McCourt did to buy the Dodgers.

“The Dodgers have let their views be known, and they have been unhappy about it,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. “While publicly professing their indifference, they have expressed their displeasure.”

The Los Angeles City Council approved a resolution opposing the name change, and the city filed a court brief in support of Anaheim. McCourt said he appreciated the support but did not ask that either action be taken.

“The council represents Los Angeles’ interests,” he said. “It’s not a matter we’re involved in.

“I’ve made real clear to my people what our focus is. I’m going to focus on bringing the Dodgers back to their glory days.”

The Angels have filed a motion to throw out the brief from the city of Los Angeles, arguing in part that the city has no business in a lease dispute between Anaheim and the team.

When Los Angeles Deputy City Atty. Edward Jordan presented the brief, Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Polos said, “I’m not sure you really have any standing” in the case and asked, “Isn’t this something you should take up with Major League Baseball?”

Outside court, Jordan said Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn had written to Selig but had not received a reply.