Sports

Is L.A. an Angels town?

Maybe not yet, but Slate's Kevin Arnovitz argues they have come a long way and can thank the Dodgers' ordinary-ness for the opening.

Take away the Dodgers' persistent mediocrity, and there is no Angels renaissance....

The Angels and Dodgers won division titles in the same year for the first time in 2004. But Moreno's decision this past offseason to dub his team "The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" really showed how far the rivalry has come. The name change was a topic of discussion for only about five minutes in Los Angeles, but it's significant insofar as it represents the franchise's eagerness to rejoin the civic conversation. Ten years ago, an Angels billboard on Sunset Boulevard would have been laughable. Now there are signs all over Hollywood, West Los Angeles, and the Eastside—there's even one less than a mile from Dodger Stadium.

[Arte] Moreno's marketing incursion north of the Orange County border has taken root particularly in the Latino households that have been a Dodgers stronghold dating back to Fernandomania. And by all press accounts, the Angels have virtually erased the Dodgers' historical advantage in the local television war. This year, the Angels averaged a 2.8 rating for their 49-game, over-the-air package on KCAL; the Dodgers scored a meager 2.1 rating for their 25 games on the local UPN affiliate.

The city of Anaheim has already spent $1.1 million in legal costs trying to keep the Angels from evolving into an L.A. team, with the trial not set until January.


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