As Darin Erstad caught the last out in the World Series and delirious players piled atop each other in celebration, the announcer declared, "The Anaheim Angels are the champions of baseball!" In a victory parade two days later, players waved to fans from atop a float decorated by this banner: "Anaheim Angels, 2002 World Champions."
For the city and the team, those were happier days. On Friday, as the city presented jurors with its argument in its lawsuit against the Angels, city co-counsel Andy Guilford played a brief highlight video from that magical October to illustrate the exposure Anaheim lost after the team adopted a Los Angeles identity last year.
By relegating Anaheim to what the city calls a "hanging chad" in the team name, and dropping the city's name in marketing and promotions, the Angels have broken their stadium lease and deprived Anaheim of national exposure worth some $100 million, Guilford said.
"That is a brand even Nike would die for," he said. "That is a brand IBM would die for. That is a brand McDonald's and all its golden arches would die for.
"That is the brand the citizens of Anaheim paid for and we're here in court to get."
In his opening statement, Angel co-counsel Todd Theodora cited provisions of the lease that grant the team "sole discretion" over marketing and said the new name -- the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim -- satisfies the clause requiring the team name to "include the name Anaheim therein."
Theodora told jurors the clause did not guarantee that Anaheim would be prominent in the team name, would be the first word in the name or would be the only city in the name, pointing to the word "include."
"The ordinary English meaning," he said. "Nothing magical."
The lawyers delivered their opening statements before a crowded room in Orange County Superior Court. Angel owner Arte Moreno and Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle attended, as did the rest of the Anaheim City Council. At one point, Moreno sat next to Councilwoman Lorri Galloway, apparently unaware of her identity. He quickly moved.
Also attending were Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman and Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Anaheim), who last year introduced a bill that would have required the team to include geographic disclaimers on ads and tickets.
The trial resumes Tuesday.
