And I’m not a particular Disney partisan
(except for Walt himself), but I do remember that it was Eisner’s personal intervention that prevented Erstad from being traded (after the 2000 season? I don’t recall precisely), and I appreciated that greatly.

True. However, it was Eisner who hired Tavares for the job of running the team (Eisner, a hockey fan, knew nothing of baseball), and it was Tavares who was seeking a way to effectively fire the entire team and replace just about everybody. Tavares was there because Eisner gave him the keys, and while it is true that Eisner overruled the trade, it happened only because of the personnel decisions Eisner made in the first place.

It was Tavares who, in the wake of the Mo Vaughn debacle, dictated the franchise be run on a shoestring budget, citing Jackie Autry’s claim that Anaheim was a small market for a franchise and should be budgeted accordingly. For all the heat Moreno has taken for the inclusion of “Los Angeles” in the team’s name, he has run it like a big-market team and has reaped the returns of a big-market team. The use of “Los Angeles” in the name has helped advertisers to understand that the team draws from the entire LA Metro area, and not just the more local North OC area, something “Anaheim” might have indicated.

We should also recall that Disney listened closely to MLB to see if the team could be contracted (along with the Twins and/or Oakland) to reduce the number of teams in baseball, back when fans were beginning to shun Angel baseball for the mediocre play and the infantilism of the game by Disney. Once Disney realized it was work owning a baseball franchise, it couldn’t get rid of the team fast enough. It wasn’t a jewel of the company that was cherished.

As far as Moreno goes, we’re incredibly fortunate to have him as the owner, but he was the only buyer Disney had. The other ownership groups (like the one headed by Peter Ueberroth) didn’t have the cash or clout to get the deal done, and Moreno’s Hispanic heritage appealed to Selig as well.

Yes, Disney was better than News Corp/Fox as an owner, but that’s like saying one is happy to have herpes because it could have been AIDS. Disney’s ownership does not reflect much of a high-water mark for the franchise, except for the remodel of the stadium, which was accomplished with city money as well as Disney’s.