Letters: Good riddance to Arte Moreno (and some stars?)

Angels owner Arte Moreno at Angel Stadium.

Aug. 26, 2022 5:28 AM PT

If you want to know why the Angels stink, Mike DiGiovanna’s comprehensive analysis of the organization’s failure explains it all. The short answer is, “it’s Arte Moreno, stupid,” and word of the team’s sale hopefully promises better days ahead. I’m sure the $2 billion in profit he stands to make will soothe Arte’s fractured ego.

Jim Fredrick
Manhattan Beach

I hope the new Angels owner does not change the TV broadcast crew; otherwise, we might miss the information provided by Patrick O’Neal on Tuesday night. The Angels were losing 3-1 and up to bat with one out when O’Neal said, “If the Angels can get a man on base and then Trout hits a home run, the score will be tied.” Thanks for the insight into Major League Baseball.

Russell Beecher
Canyon Lake

Arte Moreno goes on “Shark Tank” to pitch Mark Cuban and Alex Rodriguez to get together to buy the team:

“Hello, Sharks. I’m Arte Moreno, and I’m seeking $2.3 billion for 100% ownership in my underachieving major market baseball team. Now, Sharks, everyone loves baseball. Wouldn’t you like to own a team with Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and, most importantly, a fan base that tolerates failure as long as they can take the kiddies into your team store and buy them a stuffed monkey?”

Bob Kyle
Newport Beach

Shohei Ohtani walked off the mound last Sunday sick to his stomach. Not to worry. Shohei will feel much better when he signs a contract with the Dodgers at the end of the 2023 season.

Jack Oakes
Santa Ana

The Angels being put up for sale has to be only the first shoe to drop in taking a hapless team to a team worth watching. As much as Arte Moreno makes the perfect scapegoat, he’s far from the only culprit.

Drafting and cultivating their own talent has been nonexistent. The number of players brought up capable of contributing to the current group is almost at zero. If Ohtani and Trout know what’s good for them they will run from this team faster than they run the basepaths, as the road to meaningful winning will not come during their playing lifetime.

Robert Goldstone
Corona Del Mar

Thanks to Helene Elliott for her story on the characteristics of the next Angels owner. Your last point in the story struck a nerve with me as a longtime Angels fan. While no one can accuse me of being woke or a huge advocate of diversity and inclusion initiatives, as a minority, I do feel that Arte has failed in this regard. There is no major initiatives or programs to recognize the diverse communities that make up the Angels fanbase.

The absence of something like a Mexican Heritage Night or a Korean Culture Night like at Dodger Stadium recently, leads me to believe that it is intentional. It almost feels like the Angels do not want to drive away the mainstream (white) fanbase or turn them off.

While Orange County is diverse, most in my community raise their children as Dodgers fans for this reason. My fellow Little League coaches are planning to take their fall ball teams to the Mexican Heritage Night at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 7. Recently, my Korean friends took their families to the Korean Heritage Night for the amazing customized Dodgers caps. I’m not fond of the Dodgers, but I was jealous. I want an Angels cap customized with the Korean flag on the underside of the bill. So would the thousands of Korean Americans who live in Fullerton or Irvine.

David Song
Whittier

Dodger dilemma

Once again, Bill Plaschke overstates a case, saying that the Dodgers need to cool the afterburners. If you watch enough sports, you know that the quickest way to lose a commanding lead is to stop playing the way that got you that lead — just ask the Atlanta Falcons. This season is a far cry from last season, when the Giants forced the Dodgers to play every game as if it were a playoff game just to keep up — very high stakes with a lot of pressure, a real grind mentally and physically.

Winning so easily and comfortably with no pressure this season has got to be just plain fun (sure is to watch!), and as Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner just stated, playing every day keeps one’s rhythms in sync. Not worried about October at all — except for Craig Kimbrel.

Peter Maradudin
Seattle

Rich get richer

Just what American sports needs: the doubling of weekly purses at PGA events, making wealthy golfers even wealthier. Reminds me of the competition between the NFL and the AFL before the leagues merged in the late ‘60s. The tour players should be celebrating Greg Norman’s efforts on behalf of the LIV tour rather than disparaging him.

Noel Johnson
Glendale

Coverage issues

I wish to complain about the minimal coverage that the Los Angeles Times has been giving to the WNBA playoffs. Compared to coverage of the NBA playoffs, it is pitiful. Plus the few articles that you do publish are all AP written.

In contrast, Sunday’s paper included an extensive article written by an LAT staff member about the food diets of high school football fans!

Moreover, there are many men with daughters who play basketball. Had Kobe Bryant still been alive, he would have undoubtedly been an avid supporter of the sport because his daughter Gianna was an active basketball player.

Al Milo
Anaheim

Yet again The Times barely recognizes boxing. Fighting for the biggest prize in sport, the heavyweight championship of the world, was at one time about as good as it gets. Now, it gets but a blurb in the very back of the Sports section. The Joshua/Usyk fight on Aug. 20 was a thrilling event. Not only for the sport of it, and the great skill of the combatants, but even more so for the dramatic backstory attached.

Is The Times making a political statement or are you just not aware of the really good stuff going on out there?

Marc Silver
Glendale

Thought I had died and gone to heaven Monday morning when The Times had a track and beach volleyball, on the front page no less! These sports rarely see the light of day beyond niche coverage, in spite of the incredible athletes, their great performances and interesting backstories. They truly are doing it for the love of their sport.

Kudos to Andrew Greif, who absolutely killed it before, throughout and after the world championships of athletics a month ago. And, perhaps most importantly, much gratitude and appreciation to the decision makers in the sports department, who not only approved these stories, but positioned them in such prominent areas of the paper. Hats off to all of you!

Tom Feuer
Eugene, Ore.

Trade talk

So the Lakers have traded Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to the Utah Jazz for Patrick Beverly. Wow! Wouldn’t it be nice if the Lakers could trade Rob Pelinka to the Jazz for Danny Ainge?

Jim Stucker
Palm Desert

College daze

Like many Trojans fans, I am anxiously awaiting the upcoming season and watching our $5 million quarterback. With the advent of NIL, the old tale that Trojan stars often took pay cuts when they entered the NFL has finally come true!

Mark Roth
Los Angeles

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