Arte Moreno

Torii Hunter's first at-bat in Angel Stadium on Friday night was delayed by a standing ovation, which the Detroit Tigers right fielder acknowledged by waving his helmet. When Hunter took his position in the first inning, fans in the right-field bleachers rose in unison, one row of spectators holding up a large “THANK U TORII” sign. For Hunter, who hit .286 with 105 homers and 432 runs batted in during a five-year stint with the Angels in which he was also the heart and soul of the club, it wasn't just about appreciation.

When I think of our local baseball teams and their supporters, I envision my wife in a bathing suit. Or trying to get into one. Every year when spring arrives, I hear about her summer plans and how good she's going to look in a new bathing suit. About the same time I hear from Angels and Dodgers fans overwhelmed with optimism. No matter what I write here next, I'm not going to win. That is if the truth matters. But I've also noticed over the years that any attempt at humor when it comes to the local baseball teams or bathing suits isn't going to go over well.

Reporting from St. Louis -- There are certain numbers related to Albert Pujols that should concern the Angels. The first is 32, the slugger's age this season, the first in a 10-year contract. Then there's the set that shows a steady decline in production the last two years in every major offensive category. And finally, there are the figures at the back half of his $240-million contract. Starting in 2017, when he'll be 37, Pujols will make $26 million, with million-dollar raises due in each of the final four years of the deal.

Obviously the owners of the Angels and Dodgers have never heard of team chemistry. Arte Moreno and the Guggenheim Guy thought they could build better teams just by adding more expensive elements. Here's a lesson from Chemistry 101: You won't improve water (H2O) by replacing the O (oxygen) with Au (gold). H2Au won't work: Just ask Torii Hunter, the professor of Team Chemistry 101. Steve Stanage Corona :: I hope Angels management, and fans, can look between the lines of T.J. Simers' smarmy Josh Hamilton piece and realize that what they have in Hamilton is nothing compared to what they had in Torii Hunter.

Hey, Dodgers, Arte Moreno is calling you out! A little mano a mano action. I'm not sure if his Angels are playing in the American League West or in some imaginary division where his Angels line up across the Dodgers every night. He rolled some serious dice Saturday and signed slugging outfielder Josh Hamilton to a five-year contract for $125 million, and what did he say to The Times' Bill Plaschke ? “The Dodgers, Merry Christmas, I personally can hardly wait to play them,” he said.

The Angels have won four of the last five American League West titles and have an even longer streak of success at the turnstiles -- six consecutive seasons of drawing more than 3 million fans. And owner Arte Moreno plans on keeping it that way, regardless of the nation's bleak overall economic outlook. The Angels' opening day payroll will be a robust $117 million, down slightly from the $125 million the team closed 2008 with but still among the six highest in the game.

Although some fans and Anaheim city officials still bristle at Arte Moreno's 2005 decision to call his club the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Angels owner is convinced the name change has helped fuel his team's financial fortunes. In 2002, the year the Angels won the World Series and a year before Moreno bought them, the club drew 2.3 million fans, sold about 14,000 season tickets and generated about $100 million in revenue. Last season, their fifth as the Los Angeles Angels, they drew 3.24 million fans to surpass the 3-million mark for the seventh straight season, sold about 26,000 season tickets and generated about $230 million in revenue.

When I first heard Arte Moreno wasn't talking, I figured he was just taking orders from Mike Scioscia like everyone else in the Angels organization. It never crossed my mind that maybe he was acting like Frank McCourt and going into hiding because things haven't gone well for him. That's always been the best thing going for Arte, no one thinking poorly of him when compared with the owners of the Dodgers, first Fox and then McCourt. Arte has pretty much received a free pass since taking ownership of the Angels the year after the team won the World Series — lower beer prices taking him a long way. I'm guilty of going easy on him, my harshest criticism to date when I suggested he should have lowered the price of soda and water rather than make it easier for the drunks to buy more beer.

The boss was calling. John Carpino, the Angels' president, picked up. Arte Moreno's question: What would you think about us signing Albert Pujols? This was a few days before Thanksgiving. Carpino caught his breath, then asked Moreno for a couple of hours to run the numbers. The Angels never had signed a guy for $100 million. Pujols would cost more than twice as much. "No," Moreno said. "What do you think our fans would think?" That's a no-brainer. The Angels were in it to win it. "I'm a marketing guy," Moreno said Saturday, after the Angels unwrapped Pujols before a crowd estimated at 4,200 at Angel Stadium.

The office of the commissioner is in New York. The commissioner himself works in Milwaukee, his hometown, out of a 30th-floor office with a sweeping view of Lake Michigan. He is the First Fan, more at ease at a game with a hot dog in hand than at a podium before a national television audience. The lobby in his Milwaukee office features baseball-themed carpets, a sofa with bases as cushions and bats as armrests, and a clock that plays "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on the hour. Family pictures are most prominent in the executive suite, but there is no shortage of baseball memorabilia.

Arte Moreno has placed blame for the team's brutal 2013 start, its failure to make the playoffs for three straight years and several high-priced moves that have paid minimal dividends on the one person the Angels owner can't fire: Himself. "If you're going to blame anyone, you've got to blame me," Moreno told FoxSports.com on Wednesday in New York, where he is attending the owners' meetings. "I'm the one at the end of the day that has the final call. " Moreno orchestrated the signing of first baseman Albert Pujols to a 10-year, $240-million deal before 2012.

CHICAGO - When the Angels got Josh Hamilton following the Dodgers' signing of Zack Greinke , owner Arte Moreno emerged from hiding, took a bow and told everyone: "Think about how much fun it's going to be. Dodger fans and Angels fans get to argue about whose team is better, who's stronger, who's weaker.… Do you know how much fun it's going to be?" What a blast …of hot air. Are you having fun yet? I began the week talking to Don Mattingly , who felt really good about the Dodgers after three straight losses to the Giants.

Torii Hunter's first at-bat in Angel Stadium on Friday night was delayed by a standing ovation, which the Detroit Tigers right fielder acknowledged by waving his helmet. When Hunter took his position in the first inning, fans in the right-field bleachers rose in unison, one row of spectators holding up a large “THANK U TORII” sign. For Hunter, who hit .286 with 105 homers and 432 runs batted in during a five-year stint with the Angels in which he was also the heart and soul of the club, it wasn't just about appreciation.

Mike Trout got a $20,000 pay raise from the Angels, and I know I'm supposed to feel something. If someone could explain to me what a pay raise is, it might help. I really don't understand why anyone cares what Trout makes unless they have a daughter who might marry him. You start comparing what people get paid, and it never goes well. I'd like to see the president stand up to Jim Mora , and tell me I don't deserve to be paid more than he does. Dennis Rodman can do his job, as we learned recently, and he was paid nothing.

Outside, a red carpet stretched into the happiest restaurant on Earth, filled with giggling little girls and twinkling television trinkets and jolly Josh Hamilton squeezing his giant frame into a cheery red Angels jersey, All that was needed was a holiday toast, a very particular toast, one that many were contemplating but none were bold enough to make. Standing in the back, Arte Moreno generously complied. "The Dodgers, Merry Christmas, I personally can hardly wait to play them," he said.

Hey, Dodgers, Arte Moreno is calling you out! A little mano a mano action. I'm not sure if his Angels are playing in the American League West or in some imaginary division where his Angels line up across the Dodgers every night. He rolled some serious dice Saturday and signed slugging outfielder Josh Hamilton to a five-year contract for $125 million, and what did he say to The Times' Bill Plaschke ? “The Dodgers, Merry Christmas, I personally can hardly wait to play them,” he said.

From Tempe, Ariz. I'm used to people running away, not returning phone calls or, like Manny Ramirez , vowing to never speak again. But when I ask team officials if I might see Arizona part-time resident and Angels owner Arte Moreno , he gets into his car and drives across town in rush hour to come to my hotel. I'm thinking he misunderstood, gets a message someone wants to buy Angels tickets, and by now everyone knows this guy will do almost anything to take care of a customer.

Hideki Matsui's next paycheck may be lighter than usual after the Angels' slugger broke the windshield of team owner Arte Moreno's new Mercedes CL 600 with a foul ball in Wednesday's 8-6 win over the Kansas City Royals. "You kidding me?" teammate Torii Hunter said while surveying the damage. "Oh, man, that's coming out of his check. You can't hit the owner's car." Matsui made up for that later in the same at-bat, belting a three-run home run, his first as an Angel.

Josh Hamilton? Are you kidding me? Nobody makes a surprise splash like the Angels, but this was a flying cannonball into the middle of a Southern California pool that had been awash in Dodger blue. Nobody breaks down the door in the middle of the night like the Angels, but this was a bullhorn-toting, helicopter-descending invasion into the consciousness of a local baseball population that has been resting peacefully atop those Magic millions. Josh Hamilton? Are you serious?

The Angels made another stunning free-agent splash Thursday, coming to an agreement with slugger Josh Hamilton for a five-year, $125-million contract just one day after General Manager Jerry Dipoto said a significant move was not "imminent, pressing or required. " Neither Dipoto nor the Angels would comment because the deal is pending a physical, which the former Texas Rangers outfielder and 2010 American League most valuable player is scheduled to undergo Friday. But the deal, which could give the Angels one of baseball's most formidable lineups, was confirmed by a person familiar with the negotiations and not authorized to speak publicly about them, as well as Texas GM Jon Daniels.