Arturo Moreno

Years before Arte Moreno became a baseball owner, his dad acted like one. The late Arturo Moreno, who ran a modest print shop and raised 11 children in a two-bedroom house in Tucson, kept such close tabs on his favorite teams, it was as if he had a stake in them. "He walked around with the box scores in his hand," his son recalled. "He always knew who was doing what, who pitched, who made the errors, who was doing a crummy job."

It was deftly done. Angels owner Arte Moreno casually mentioned during a conversation with AM 830 radio host Roger Lodge on Wednesday that there are many things to like about free agent Manny Ramirez. Boom. Talk radio hosts around the country and baseball-centric Internet message boards started filling up with talk of Manny being an Angel instead of a Dodger. It was a George Steinbrenner moment.

The Angels' relatively low sale price does not indicate that the new collective bargaining agreement is not working, Commissioner Bud Selig said Monday. Traditionally, baseball owners have not objected to modest operating losses. Franchise values typically appreciated rapidly, allowing owners to recoup losses -- and still turn a handsome profit -- by selling the team.

The already cool relationship between Anaheim and its hometown baseball team has grown ever chillier, with Angels owner Arte Moreno raising the specter of legal action to block the city's proposed development in the Angel Stadium parking lot.

The Angels could be under new ownership within three weeks, but incoming owner Arturo Moreno is expected to retain General Manager Bill Stoneman. Stoneman's contract expires in October. Moreno met with Stoneman seve times during the bidding process for the Angels and is believed to have come away impressed with the general manager's low-profile style, ability to build a winner within a budget and long-term vision for sustaining success through player development.

The Angels hope Kevin Appier and Aaron Sele can provide the starting rotation with a much-needed boost when they return from stints on the disabled list over the next two days. Appier is scheduled to pitch tonight against Cleveland and Sele is expected to make his season debut on Friday against Toronto. "I'm excited to come back and compete," said Sele, who has made six rehabilitation starts since undergoing off-season shoulder surgery. "That's why you work so hard to do what you do."

Arturo Moreno, who parlayed his fortune from the advertising business into minority stakes in the Arizona Diamondbacks and Phoenix Suns, has emerged as a leading candidate to buy the Angels from the Walt Disney Co., sources familiar with the sale process said Thursday. Negotiations between Moreno and Disney have become "feverish," according to one source. Commissioner Bud Selig is expected to meet with Moreno as soon as this weekend to discuss the possible purchase.

He doesn't plan any changes in the top management of the Angels, insists he is committed to keeping the World Series roster intact, believes in building from within and says he has told General Manager Bill Stoneman that he can keep the job for as long as he wants.

Back in 1986, when he was just an up-and-coming businessman, Arturo Moreno would park himself at the turnstile on busy nights at the ball field, tearing tickets for fans of the Class A Salt Lake City Trappers. On a $150,000 lark, Moreno and 17 other investors pooled their cash and bought a baseball team. It was a no-name team with no-name players, but the owners dived in, shedding suits to don shorts and flip-flops, shag balls in the outfield and take pitches during batting practice.

Jackie Autry, the widow of the Angels' founding owner, thanked Disney for its dedication to the legacy of Gene Autry but said Wednesday she would have preferred the company sell the team to a local buyer. Disney reached agreement in principle Tuesday to sell the Angels to Phoenix businessman Arturo Moreno for $180 million, subject to the approval of major league owners.

Arte Moreno got a powerful endorsement Saturday, when Commissioner Bud Selig said he supported the Angels' owner in his insistence that center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. publicly address allegations that he ordered a shipment of human growth hormone. "Arte and I are absolutely on the same page on this issue," Selig said. "There isn't a scintilla of difference between Arte Moreno's position and mine. To say it as bluntly as I can say it, he's stating my position."

Angels owner Arte Moreno said Sunday he would not let the uncertain situation surrounding center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. linger into the regular season. "It's going to be resolved by opening day, one way or the other. I promise you that," Moreno said. "I'm not a very happy guy. It should have already been resolved." Moreno, who signed Matthews to a five-year, $50-million contract in November, would not elaborate on the meaning of "one way or the other."

As the city of Anaheim inches further away from building a professional football facility near Angel Stadium, it may be putting itself on a collision course with an old adversary -- Angels owner Arte Moreno. City officials late Tuesday reduced the number of potential developers of lofts, office towers and retail districts on the land from five to three.

Years before Arte Moreno became a baseball owner, his dad acted like one. The late Arturo Moreno, who ran a modest print shop and raised 11 children in a two-bedroom house in Tucson, kept such close tabs on his favorite teams, it was as if he had a stake in them. "He walked around with the box scores in his hand," his son recalled. "He always knew who was doing what, who pitched, who made the errors, who was doing a crummy job."

For the mayor of California's 10th-largest city, a high-profile court battle against the home team was hardly a welcome fight, especially in an election year. The legal crusade led by Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle against the Angels baseball franchise will cost the city millions of dollars, at the least. It may also cost it the goodwill of team owner Arte Moreno. It has made the city, for a year, the butt of jokes.

On a day Arte Moreno acknowledged he had violated one provision of the Angels' stadium lease, an expert witness testified the city of Anaheim could lose as much as $373 million worth of exposure because of what the city calls another violation. Moreno, the Angel owner, said Monday he "made a mistake" in using ballpark signs in which "Angel Stadium" is not followed by "of Anaheim," as required by the lease. He pledged to redo the signs.

As a baseball team, the Angels are pretty good. As the linchpin of an interactive entertainment empire, a foundation for a cable sports channel, a spur for urban development, or a promotional vehicle for theme parks, movies and shows, the Angels have not been particularly useful.

The Walt Disney Co., which shepherded the Anaheim Angels from hard-luck losers to World Series champions, agreed in principle Tuesday to sell the baseball team to Phoenix businessman Arturo Moreno for about $180 million, sources familiar with the negotiations said. The agreement requires approval from Major League Baseball owners.

The name might be a mouthful, and his own lawyers might have called it "silly" in court, but Arte Moreno testified on Friday that he considers the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim "a formal team name" that complies with the stadium lease even if the team almost never uses it.

While Angel owner Arte Moreno has suggested the team could move from Anaheim, and while the city of Anaheim has wondered whether Los Angeles would be the destination, the most likely partner in building a stadium there says Moreno has not discussed any such project with him. "Not once," said AEG President Tim Leiweke. As California cities and counties grow increasingly resistant to funding sports facilities, AEG has built Staples Center and the Home Depot Center, largely with private financing.