Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Baseball Team

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.

Oy, such a dilemma: You're a Jewish Yankees fan, and the Mets just picked up Shawn Green. The New York papers all have dutifully told the story, as if handed down from the Bible: Green refused to play for the Dodgers on Yom Kippur, just like Sandy Koufax. So, New Yorkers: Do you root for the Yankees or root as a Jew? You can have your bagel and eat it too, as it turns out. Just ask Derek Jeter, who said he saw this T-shirt in Boston: "Jews for Jeter."

The World Series starts Oct. 22 at Angel Stadium. Or else. The Angels usually speak softly, without carrying a big stick. They got the big stick Tuesday, and they're not shy about telling you why. "We're in it to win a world championship," General Manager Tony Reagins said. Talk isn't cheap, not this time.

In sports, in broadcasting, in politics, there is no getting around it. When someone leaves a team or a booth or an office, we must speculate. Who comes next? Who will be the next center fielder? The next anchor? The next senator? The next voice of the Angels? Rory Markas, a man of subtle humor, pleasing tone and acknowledged professionalism, died suddenly and unexpectedly Monday night. He had suffered a brain aneurysm in November 2008, recovered, broadcast an entire Angels season in 2009, was well into this USC basketball season and was getting ready to be the full-time, regular television play-by-play man for the Angels in 2010.

Marine Cpl. Jason Morrow was serving a tour in Iraq when he wrote his mother with a fanciful request. When he returned to Southern California on leave, he wanted to propose to his girlfriend, Evelyn Flores. And he wanted to do it on the field at Angel Stadium, where he had spent so many summers cheering for the team. It took some negotiating, but his mother, Kristin Morrow, arranged it. And last summer, Morrow dropped to one knee and presented an engagement ring to Flores behind home plate.

Darin Erstad played through the emotional trauma of a painful divorce in 2001, fought major hamstring injuries the last two years and has endured constant criticism for not generating enough power for a corner infielder making $8 million a season.

The Angels have raised the price of some season tickets, cut the price of others and frozen prices on parking, concessions and single-game tickets. The Angels also added "preferred" seating categories on the field and terrace levels, with Angel Stadium now divided into 32 categories. For a year in which the All-Star game will be played at Angel Stadium, with season-seat holders guaranteed the opportunity to buy an All-Star game ticket, the Angels raised season prices by an average of 4.1%, spokesman Tim Mead said.

Catching his breath every few moments, Jim Adenhart explained to the hushed crowd that the greatest day of his life was when his nine-pound, three-ounce baby boy was born. Then, in detail, he relayed his final conversation with his son last week, after Nick Adenhart had pitched the best game of his brief major league career.

Big Glove. It's not a spinoff of a popular HBO series, it's the new mitt Angels catcher Mike Napoli will try this spring. Napoli has better-than-average power for a catcher, but he went into a defensive slump last season, struggling so much with his throwing and receiving skills that Manager Mike Scioscia in August held a lengthy closed-door meeting with the catcher. "He was trying to get me to step up my game," Napoli said. "He was trying to make me a better catcher."

In the eyes of the Florida Marlins, the Angels and the Dodgers are the teams most likely to acquire star third baseman Miguel Cabrera, a baseball source said Tuesday. The Marlins made that assessment after surveying interested teams at last week's general managers meetings in Florida. It is uncertain whether the Angels and Dodgers are pursuing Cabrera the hardest or whether the Marlins simply rank the Angels and Dodgers as having the best young talent among potential trade partners.