Angels owner Arte Moreno removed from video after boos. But what about Shohei Ohtani?
Angels owner Arte Moreno was emphatically booed Friday night when his image ever-so-briefly appeared on the Angel Stadium screen during a highlights video before the team’s home opener against the Boston Red Sox.
It was the sound of Angels fans letting out their frustrations after years of futility and questionable decisions.
But the scene didn’t repeat itself when the 2024 version of the “Calling All Angels” montage was played before the team’s remaining games against the Red Sox this weekend.
Did the fans get it all out of their systems on opening night? Did a kinder, gentler crowd show up at the “Big A” for Saturday and Sunday’s games?
Arte Moreno has a long to-do list and not much time to convince the Angels fan base that he is the right owner for one of this market’s crown-jewel franchises.
Probably not, although it’s impossible to know for sure. Why? Because Moreno no longer appears in the video. His scene was cut overnight and was no longer in the version that was shown the next two days.
An explanation for the move has not been given. The Angels declined to comment.
Moreno purchased the Angels from the Walt Disney Co. in the spring of 2003, months after the club won the World Series for the only time in franchise history. The team remained competitive for a while — winning the American League West Division five times in Moreno’s first seven years as owner, and again in 2014 — but hasn’t made the playoffs since 2014 and hasn’t finished with a winning record since 2015.
Moreno also removed “Anaheim” from the team’s name and has yet to come to a long-term stadium deal with the city, despite lots of drama in that department over the years. He announced in August 2022 that he had begun to explore the process of selling the Angels, only to change his mind months later.
Losing Shohei Ohtani to the Dodgers is a sore point for some Angels fans, but they remain intensely loyal despite the team missing 10 consecutive postseasons.
Under Moreno’s ownership, the Angels have failed to provide an adequate supporting cast for two generational talents — three-time American League MVP Mike Trout since 2011 and two-time AL MVP Shohei Ohtani, who bolted after six years with the team this offseason after the Angels declined to match the Dodgers’ offer of 10 years and $700 million.
It was likely the Ohtani situation that pushed many of the Angels fans in attendance Friday night over the edge, as the portions of the “Calling All Angels” video that featured the Japanese superstar also were loudly jeered. Those clips, unlike the one that showed Moreno, remained in the version of the montage that was shown before the next two games.
Chances are, those reactions toward Ohtani will mellow with every showing of the video.
Maybe the same would have been true for Moreno — although the way things stand right now, we’ll never know.
With further details emerging about the corrupt ties between team and city officials, the Halos have finally gone too far.
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