Baseball's Best Boss

Arte Moreno is Baseballs best boss according to Forbes. Hard to disagree

almost 3 years ago anaheim angels 24 comments 3 recs |

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Very Cool Article

Something I think most Angel fans already know, especially those who attend the games.

On a side note: You Gotta Love “La Raza”. Did anyone else catch the “He’s one of Us” comment.

When I'm not at the stadium, I'd rather be watching my Halos back in Costa Rica!

by Dono Romantico on Apr 28, 2009 6:45 PM PDT reply actions

the irony

Arte is a Republican, a Vietnam Veteran and a capitalist.

by Rev Halofan on Apr 28, 2009 7:49 PM PDT up reply actions

he's like my idol.....

Godspeed Nick - RIP - 1986-2009

by norcaliangelsfan on Apr 28, 2009 7:52 PM PDT up reply actions

just about every businessman is a republican

by mastermind565 on Apr 28, 2009 8:13 PM PDT up reply actions

Wrong...and not even close...

by sothball on Apr 28, 2009 8:16 PM PDT up reply actions

actually its fairly proven

that there are a higher proportion of fiscal conservatives among businessmen/women

RIP #34

by linkbruin on Apr 28, 2009 11:17 PM PDT up reply actions

…and still disagree with the statement that “…just about every businessman is a republican…” because that statement is not true.
The two wealthiest businessmen in the country – Warren Buffett and Bill Gates – are Democrats. It is rare to find a conservative and/or Republican in the entertainment industry, media, cosmetics and so on.
Oh well. People need to cling to their mythologies, facts notwithstanding…

by sothball on Apr 29, 2009 5:52 AM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, I saw it

On a side note: You Gotta Love "La Raza". Did anyone else catch the "He’s one of Us" comment.

The article makes it clear the comment isn’t founded upon race or ancestry, but upon the approachability of the owner of the team. Can you imagine John Henry, or Hank Steinbrenner, or Tom Hicks—or Frank McCourt—walking the stadium, posing for photos with the fans, and checking out the cleanliness of the restrooms?

“He’s one of us” means Moreno is a fan’s owner.

by George Kaplan on Apr 28, 2009 8:09 PM PDT up reply actions

Just like Mark Cuban!

by Caseys Kiss of Death on Apr 29, 2009 3:04 PM PDT up reply actions

Maybe I missed something ....

all of the girls names were hispanic.

When I'm not at the stadium, I'd rather be watching my Halos back in Costa Rica!

by Dono Romantico on Apr 29, 2009 9:28 PM PDT up reply actions

Yes, you did

It didn’t matter if the names were Hispanic, Finnish or Samoan, the statement—as was made clear by the author in the article—was about Moreno’s approach to the fan, not “one of us” because he’s Hispanic. It was your decision upon reading it to inject the “La Raza” spin on the comment.

Reading—It’s FUNdamental.

by George Kaplan on Apr 30, 2009 4:02 AM PDT up reply actions

The in 2016, "he can do what he wants" scares me...

I have a feeling that if sales dropped Arte would take em to LA county.

Do it for Nick '09

by BryanHarvey'sMoustache on Apr 28, 2009 7:21 PM PDT reply actions

IF he did

he would likely keep them in a neighborhood that bordered Orange County (La Mirada for example) if he got a sweetheart deal. And he is no above that, as he tried similar things with property in Goodyear Arizona in negotitations with the city of Tempe.

by Rev Halofan on Apr 28, 2009 7:52 PM PDT up reply actions

No, he's not stupid

Moreno knows a substantial portion of his customer base drives in from Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Moving further north and west would alienate those fans, and it doesn’t figure he’d make it up, plus more, by moving closer to the Dodger fan base.

My guess is that the city of Irvine will dangle some acreage in the Great Park site to tempt Moreno into building a stadium there. The site offers proximity to the toll roads which can bring fans from the IE in faster (if more expensively) than straight in from the 91 to the current Anaheim site, plus the Metrolink trains run to the park as well.

He’ll leverage opportunity that into getting the city of Anaheim to build a new stadium in the land adjacent to the current park—the spot where they’ve pimped an NFL stadium previously. The city will build a new stadium while the current stadium remains in use (as the Yankees did), then demo the current stadium.

And he won’t have to wait until 2016, either.

by George Kaplan on Apr 28, 2009 7:54 PM PDT up reply actions

That might not be so bad...

Although, I am almost positive that the city of Irvine WILL NOT want 40,000 fans (some drunk) blocking up traffic 80 nights out of the year in their prestigious, clean and all too well-planned, sterile city.

Do it for Nick '09

by BryanHarvey'sMoustache on Apr 28, 2009 8:55 PM PDT up reply actions

Are you kidding?

The powers that be in Irvine would do everything short of committing murder—and maybe not even drawing the line there—to get a revenue machine like the Angels in their city. Cities in CA don’t get property tax money—it goes to the state—so they all strive to get as much sales tax revenue as they can manage. Sales tax collected at the stadium (in the restaurants, concession stands and stores) and the business which goes to local businesses would generate huge revenue for the city.

by George Kaplan on Apr 28, 2009 9:00 PM PDT up reply actions

Los Angeles Angels of Irvine

Has a bit of a ring to it.

*Ade-Rock 34*

by TheTypingFiend on Apr 28, 2009 11:51 PM PDT up reply actions

interesting.

Thanks for the info.

My comment derived from a memory that the idea of an International Airport was being tossed around for awhile but that resident weren’t into it because of air traffic noise and impracticality due to the close proximity to John Wayne. I was just thinking that the residents of Irvine might not be so down with 40,000 fans in and out all summer of their, already busy, major road arteries.

Sounds like what you said makes more sense though. Money rules. Ask the richest man in Orange County—Donald Bren.

Do it for Nick '09

by BryanHarvey'sMoustache on Apr 29, 2009 12:04 AM PDT up reply actions

Anaheim is still the best location

But it would not surprise me to see Arte use Irvine for leverage to get the city of Anaheim to do what it takes to design and build a new, state-of-the-art stadium for the team.

It’s hard to believe, but Anaheim/Angel stadium is something like the fourth-oldest stadium in all of baseball, behind Fenway, Wrigley and Dodger Stadium. The revised park has some character, but none of the history of the first two nor the location charm of the latter which would dictate keeping the current facility.

If the team makes it to the WS in the next few years—they don’t have to win the championship—see if Arte doesn’t start lobbying for a new park then. If Anaheim gets a taste of the financial windfall which comes from extended post-season play and the media attention which comes from the World Series, then they’ll be obligated not to let the team move to another city. My bet is that he’ll want a grand opening of a new park by 2014 at the latest, which will provide him a new revenue stream.

I recall something about the deal with FSW, which would run through 2016, but has an out clause somewhere in the deal. Arte still has the option of building his own YES or NESN, assuming he can score a basketball team and hockey team to provide programming software for the the channel year-round. Disney blinked on the ESPN West idea, but Arte has a few years to get his ducks in a row (no pun intended). Even if he doesn’t make it happen, the very idea could make Fox offer him an even more lucrative deal than the one he has now—the third-richest (on a per-season basis) in all of MLB.

The guy is still building the Angel brand and still increasing the value of the franchise. All the while, he hasn’t become an asshole like the Steinbrenners, or an aloof owner like John Henry, or an undercapitalized clown like Frank McCourt. We’re really very fortunate to have him leading the team.

by George Kaplan on Apr 29, 2009 4:56 AM PDT up reply actions

Great article

Arte is great. I don’t think he will take the team out of Anaheim, but I am pretty sure that he will take Anaheim out of the team (name).

by Brody on Apr 28, 2009 7:51 PM PDT reply actions

Im from Orange County and this really wouldnt bother me.

I’ve lived in NYC, D.C., Portland, Oregon and the Bay Area—ninety percent of the people you encounter dont know the difference between LA and OC anyways. And if Kaplan is right in his assessment above that a large portion of the fans come from Riverside and San Bernardino then really….who are the Halos representing anyways? Furthermore, none of the rest would exist if it wasnt for LA in the first place.

Do it for Nick '09

by BryanHarvey'sMoustache on Apr 28, 2009 8:58 PM PDT up reply actions

It's always sounded like an ego thing to me, anyway

the team started as the L.A. Angels, then they were the California Angels…they only ever identified with the actually city of Anaheim very recently…I just don’t see how long time fans can really be that upset that we’d be changing back to a more traditional name, and getting rid of the very recent tag.

by Caseys Kiss of Death on Apr 29, 2009 3:10 PM PDT up reply actions

Exactly

It is a metro area, not a single city. The name of “Anaheim” made some locals in OC happy, but it was terribly limiting to generating ad revenue. Arte knew this and had his plan to build the value of the franchise.

How remarkable that Arte knew more about how to build a brand name than Disney did when it came to the Angels.

by George Kaplan on Apr 28, 2009 9:04 PM PDT reply actions