Judge Rules Angel Name Case Can Go On

The Angels and the city of Anaheim took another step toward trial on Wednesday, when Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Polos refused the team’s request to throw out the core of the city’s lawsuit.

Polos is expected to set a trial date Tuesday. The Angels want the trial to start in January so it will not interfere with the baseball season. Anaheim wants an August trial date because the city would suffer “irreparable harm if the World Series trophy were handed to the Los Angeles Angels,” city co-counsel Andrew Guilford said.

The city charges the team, formerly the Anaheim Angels and now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, violated its stadium lease by changing its name. On Wednesday, Polos denied the Angels’ bid to toss out the two major counts in the lawsuit, rejecting their argument that the new name satisfies the requirement to “include the name Anaheim therein” and so the court need not consider any other evidence.

Polos ruled the city’s argument “turns on the extrinsic evidence” and that “there’s enough there” to let the case proceed. Guilford called it “a great day for Anaheim, a great day for Orange County and a great day for Angel fans.”

The city argues that neither it nor Disney, then owner of the Angels, used the vague lease language so that another city could be added to the team name. In a court declaration, then-Angel president Tony Tavares fully supports the city’s position.

However, Polos is not required to allow such evidence to reach a jury, said Sheldon Eisenberg of the Santa Monica law firm Bryan Cave. In a preliminary hearing Jan. 21, Polos ruled the city had “failed to show a reasonable probability” of winning a trial, although city lawyers note he had yet to review the Tavares declaration.

“There’s still a long haul for the city,” Eisenberg said.

George Stephan, the attorney representing the Angels on Wednesday, said in court the team would file a motion for summary judgment -- that is, to dismiss the case -- before the trial date. Stephan declined to comment after the hearing.

The city also is asking an appellate court to reverse the name change before the season starts next month.