Angel fans react to potential departure of owner Arte Moreno
Life-long fan Rob Rohm has plenty to say about Angels owner Arte Moreno potentially selling his hometown team.
"I'm actually pretty elated about it," Rohm said. "Because I've felt for a long time Arte Moreno has kind of disrespected Orange County...by changing the name to Los Angeles."
Moreno purchased the franchise, then the Anaheim Angels, for nearly $184 million in 2003, just months after their World Series Championship victory over the San Francisco Giants. The team is now reportedly worth $2.2 billion, according to Forbes. He changed the team's name to the Los Angeles Angels two years after he bought the club.
Anaheim fought the name change but lost in court. Despite the potential sale, city spokesperson Mike Lyster said that the Angels are here to stay for at least the next seven seasons.
"Should we see a sale here, the new ownership would actually inherit the current lease for the team at Angels Stadium of Anaheim," said Lyster. "That lease runs through 2029 at the earliest, with potential extensions that would go out to 2038, at the latest."
Even though the Angels are on the road, many fans could not stay away from the stadium like Shohei Ohtani fan Ken Sekine.
"I wonder why he decided to sell this very nice and good team," Sekine, who is visiting from Japan, said.
He and a friend from New York loaded up on Ohtani gear and expressed their hope that the potential sale doesn't result in their favorite player getting shipped away.
"It's big news when an owner changes," said fan Kaoru Uchida. "Hope that Ohtani continues to stay with the Angels.
As owner, Moreno has seen the Angels capture six American League West Division titles, and with that six playoff appearances — though the team never managed past the Championship Series to secure a World Series berth.
In a statement released on the Angels website, Moreno said:
"It has been a great honor and privilege to own the Angels for 20 seasons. As an Organization, we have worked to provide our fans an affordable and family-friendly ballpark experience while fielding competitive lineups which included some of the game's all-time greatest players.
Although this difficult decision was entirely our choice and deserved a great deal of thoughtful consideration, my family and I have ultimately come to the conclusion that now is the time. Throughout this process, we will continue to run the franchise in the best interest of our fans, employees, players, and business partners."
As owner, Moreno has seen the Angels capture six American League West Division titles, and with that six playoff appearances — though the team never managed past the Championship Series to secure a World Series berth.
James Campbell, a season-ticket holder for 40 years, reminisced about the Angels original owner Gene Autry.
"To bad Gene Autry doesn't have kids," he said. "We'd love to have him back and another championship. It's been over 20 years and poor Arte he just couldn't do it. So, new blood maybe."
If the potential sale goes through this would be the fourth owner for the Angels. The team was founded in 1961 in L.A. by Autry.
