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Team Responds to Lawsuit

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Times Staff Writer

In a legal filing that cites the Old Testament and Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Angels asked the Orange County Superior Court on Thursday to throw out a lawsuit alleging the team discriminated against men by not including them in a Mother’s Day tote bag giveaway.

The Angels alleged the complaint is part of a “widely known and ongoing scheme to extort money from California businesses who dare to give a gift to individuals.” Alfred Rava, a San Diego lawyer who filed the complaint, has pursued similar litigation against more than 40 bars, cultural organizations and sports teams, including the Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres.

Rava has called gender-based baseball promotions “sex discrimination on steroids” and charged the Angels with violating the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. In a letter, he asked the Angels to pay $4,000 in damages to all men who attended the game in question, on Mother’s Day 2005.

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In their response, the Angels argued they did not break the law because they did not offer a discount price or special access to women, only a “token promotional gift” in line with “demonstrable social and public policy” that honors mothers. In addition to judicial precedents, the Angels cited the Old Testament -- “honor thy mother and father” -- and Emerson, who wrote, “Men are what their mothers made them.”

A court hearing is scheduled Aug. 17.

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Jeff Weaver, traded by the Angels to St. Louis for minor league outfielder Terry Evans on Wednesday, is not scheduled to start for the Cardinals until after the All-Star break. The Angels sent St. Louis about $2.5 million in the deal, meaning they will end up paying about $6.75 million of Weaver’s salary this season. Weaver started 16 games for the Angels and went 3-10 with a 6.29 earned-run average.

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Center fielder Darin Erstad rejoined the Angels in Oakland on Thursday, after a third cortisone shot to combat the ankle irritation that has forced him to sit out all but five games since April 30. He has yet to resume running and has no timetable for doing so, but he said he expects his latest rehabilitation to be “probably not a short thing.”

Erstad said he cannot ask the Angels to activate him until the ankle can hold up through grueling workouts, but he said he is not giving up on the season.

“If it holds up, it holds up. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” he said. “I’m convinced I’m going to play until that’s not an option. I’m approaching it like, yeah, I’m going to play this season, until my body tells me differently or someone else tells me differently.”

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