Reports that Tony Tavares, President of the Mighty Ducks and
Disney Sports Enterprises, will oversee both Duck and Angel
operations are "fairly accurate," according to Mike DiGiovanna of
the L.A. TIMES. Jackie Autry said Angels President Richard Brown
will run the team until the fall, and could stay on past then.
Autry: "Disney will come in and evaluate people over a period of
months, and if they're capable, they'll stay. I know Disney
wants a strong marketing program, so they'll be supplementing our
efforts in that area. If anyone is anxious about the situation,
they're anticipating something that won't happen. That's not
Disney's style" (L.A. TIMES, 5/20).
SMILES, EVERYBODY, SMILES: DiGiovanna reports that there
does "not appear to be any panic in the Angels front office."
Angels Asst GM Tim Mead: "Privately, maybe there's some anxiety,
but if you can't be excited about the possibilities [with
Disney], I would say you have to change your outlook. I don't
know how it will affect the team, but everyone is very optimistic
and positive." Angels VP of Marketing Joe Schrier says he sees
the sale "as a very positive move that will benefit all" (L.A.
TIMES, 5/20). Further from the scene, Peter Gammons writes that
it "may be a boon to baseball to get some of the creative Disney
thinking injected into what has not exactly been a creatively
marketed entity" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/21).
TONY, MEET STAN: If Tavares takes responsibility for the
Angels, it would put him in the same position as Braves/ Hawks
President Stan Kasten -- the only sports exec who manages two
teams in two leagues on a daily basis. Kasten: "Plenty of
people work long hours. Plenty of people work two or three jobs.
The most difficult thing for me is the emotional stress of
sweating out a score almost every night of the year. To a
certain respect, your livelihood is on the line every night. ...
If sleep is important, you might want to think twice about it"
(L.A. TIMES, 5/21).
CITY OF ANGELS: Philip Anschutz, Chair of Southern Pacific
Rail Corp., and Edward Roski of Majestic Realty, who want to buy
the Kings and move them to downtown L.A., "have also had
discussions with the Clippers about playing in their proposed new
arena" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 5/20).
