This Disney Deal Was Right Out of Fantasyland

Michael Eisner, in Hong Kong for today’s opening of a Disneyland theme park, was asked by Associated Press to name his worst mistake during his reign as Walt Disney Co. chief executive.

Eisner called the signing of Mo Vaughn by the Disney-owned Angels after the 1998 season “the worst personnel move I’ve ever made or approved, worse than the one you’re probably thinking about.”

He was referring to the naming of Michael Ovitz as Disney president in 1995. Ovitz was gone after 15 months, and he got a severance package estimated at $130 million.

The Angels signed Vaughn for $80 million over six years, and he was gone after three, traded to the New York Mets.

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Trivia time: Who did the Angels get in exchange for Vaughn when they traded him to the Mets on Dec. 27, 2001?

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A bit premature: In an interview with the New York Post in March 2002, Vaughn said of the Angels, “Ain’t none of them done a damn thing in this game, bottom line. They ain’t got no flags hanging at Edison Field.”

They did by October, after winning the World Series.

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Feud quelled, for now: The ABC cameras no doubt will be focused on Philadelphia’s Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb tonight when the Eagles play Atlanta. There has been friction between the two since April, when Owens, referring to McNabb, said, “I wasn’t the guy who got tired in the Super Bowl.”

Owens told Miami radio station 790 on Friday that the two are getting along fine. The question is, how long will it last?

Fox’s Howie Long said Sunday: “The bottom line is another T.O. blowup is inevitable. It could happen [tonight], at midseason or after the Super Bowl. But mark it down, another one is coming. That’s his nature.”

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Marital advice: On HBO’s “Costas Now,” Cris Collinsworth offered this suggestion for Owens: “Probably more than anything else, he needs a wife. Honestly. If he had a wife, think about this. If he had a wife, the minute he takes after Donovan McNabb, his wife would have said, ‘What are you doing? Pick up the telephone and call him and apologize. You’re so out of line.’ But he doesn’t have a wife. He has an agent.”

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Late-night fodder: Owens has demanded that the Eagles renegotiate his seven-year, $48.97-million contract, prompting Jay Leno to crack: “The new version of John Madden’s football game came out -- ‘Madden 2006.’ It’s amazing how realistic the players are. Like Terrell Owens. Every three minutes he tries to renegotiate his contract.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1995, the Harlem Globetrotters’ 24-year, 8,829-game winning streak ended. In a competitive, unscripted game at Vienna, Austria, a team led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won, 91-85. Abdul-Jabbar scored 34 points.

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Trivia answer: Pitcher Kevin Appier.

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And finally: Someday Frank McCourt may be asked to name his worst mistake, and the Dodger owner might be stuck for an answer. There are just too many possibilities.

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.