But it's too early to tell if the Angels can follow suit.
"The opportunities afforded to other teams, whether it's football, basketball or baseball, are endless," said Bill Holford, director of sales and marketing with the Mighty Ducks. "Any number of the things we have done with the Ducks can be translated to those sports, including baseball."
Wagner said baseball can market its tradition and history better in an attempt to please both the casual and die-hard fan.
"You can't buy the history and the tradition," he said. "Baseball should market itself as America's pastime, but at the same time, be progressive. You can balance that, and a lot of other leagues don't have that."
Last year, Disney produced a remake of the movie "Angels in the Outfield," this time with a new twist--the California Angels are lifted to victory by real angels.
Less than a year later, the company was buying a piece of the real team, a surprise contender in the American League Western Division this season.
Disney had followed the same script two years earlier, naming newly formed National Hockey League team the Mighty Ducks after its children's hockey movie.
Once it had the team's name, Disney developed an intimidating team logo--a goalie's mask featuring a scowling duck with hockey sticks forming a skull and crossbones--that appealed to young and old alike.
As a result, the Ducks led the NHL in merchandising in their first year. T-shirts, caps, jackets, hockey pucks, baby bibs, socks, key fobs. You name it, you can find a Ducks logo on it at the team's store at The Pond.
The team's Duck mascot "Wild Wing" is lowered from the rafters amid a pregame laser-light show. The Ducks experimented with a skating chorus line, nicknamed "the Decoys." Replays on the scoreboard were punctuated by Tinkerbell and her magic wand.
Kids dug it, and parents apparently did too. The team boasts 49 consecutive home sellouts, and its season ticket renewal rate for this season is well over 90%, Holford said.
"This past year, we placed more emphasis on the on-ice games and fan interaction," Holford said. "We took the entertainment up a notch.
"We had entertainers in the stands, people giving away merchandise, trivia contests, musical groups, dancers, comedy acts. We're trying to give people something to laugh about during the intermission."
The Angels have adopted that entertainment philosophy, said Joe Schrier, the team's vice president of marketing. Like the NHL teams, the Angels are making a "concentrated effort to be more fan-friendly" after last year's player strike embittered many fans.
"We recognized we had problems we had to fix and solve," Schrier said. "We were asking the fans to bear with us.
"There were indications as the season began that a good number of people were going to boycott until after the All-Star break. I think that was true, and still is to a degree. But there has been a combination of people coming back because they love the game and because the team has performed well."
There's no telling how much impact the Angels' new promotions have had on their attendance this season. Although the team led the division most of the season, attendance has increased only slightly compared to last year's strike-shortened season. The Angels have averaged 24,111 fans in 68 home games this season, compared to 24,010 in 63 dates last year.
But there is proof that a winning team and a new ballpark can make a difference. The American League Central-champion Indians had drawn 2.7 million fans through 68 games at 2-year-old Indians Park.
Schrier was mum about the Angels' future marketing plans, saying that the sale of the team wasn't complete. But he said this season's promotions have been well-received by fans, adding that they don't distract from the game.
Holford echoed similar remarks about the Ducks' promotions, which he says are the envy of other NHL teams.
"We haven't had any criticism," Holford said. "Some of the NHL teams initially had a skeptical attitude about our promotions. But last year we had five NHL representatives, including some from Canada, who sent their marketing people to meet with our front office. They wanted to learn what we do from an on-ice and a fan's perspective."
So far, Angel fans have given the thumbs-up to the Disneyesque promotions, particularly the cartoons and the music.
"I've always loved Disneyland, and my wife lives for it," said Jeff Blackmon, 44, of Riverside, "so just about anything [Disney] does, I like.
"They understand marketing there, that's for sure."
But where do you draw the line between entertainment and baseball tradition? Monson isn't sure you need to.
"I think the Angels are doing a good job of marketing to today's fan," he said. "Let the ballplayers worry about tradition."
