More Rats.

MOVED OVER FROM THE DIARIES... Friends, it is time for an Aramark Boycott...

Ok. We are really getting blasted around baseball the past 24 hours for the vermin problem. So I went beyond my humorous feelings and broke down and actually read the article. Good lord. It's worse than just being humorous. It's worse than just being embarrassing. These guys are outright lying about it all.

When contacted by the Register, Mike McKay, director of facilities services at Angel Stadium, initially said he was not aware of a vermin problem at Angel Stadium currently and that stadium staff were "doing everything that we can" to keep the stadium clean.

BUT...

Tim Mead, vice president of communications for the Angels, acknowledged a vermin problem at the stadium...
and
The number of vermin violations at the stadium was high enough to prompt a hearing between stadium officials and the Orange County Health Care Agency in March 2006 in which the stadium agreed to step up pest-control efforts.

So, we have the Director of Facilities denying that there was a problem that they got called on the carpet on in 2006, and Mead (the PR guy, not the Facilities guy!) acknowledges is still going on. We later find out that there have been two major incidents this season, with one closure. WTF was McKay trying to do when he lied about knowing of any problem?

Then we find out that a major reason for the infestation is that the Angels don't start cleanup after night games until the next morning. Ick. Why would they do that? Oh, yeah, right. It's because then they do not have to pay money for grave yard shift workers and power the lights and staff security, etc. If you doubt the veracity of that argument, we get straight from the horses mouth the following:

Mead added that stadium management plans to discuss immediate cleaning in the next two months. He said officials would have to examine the financial and logistical costs of cleaning up more promptly but added, "there are some things you do that you just can't worry about total cost."

Yeah. "Cost". They were doing it to save on "cost". I recall when I was young and stayed late after night games that I would see the cleanup crews breaking out the hoses. I assumed that this was still going on. Duh.

Note also that they promise to "discuss immediate cleaning in the next two months". Uh, let me get my calendar. Yeah, it's August. In two months it will be October. They can discuss it then. And implement it, when, exactly? November? Good job Angels!! They certainly will have a solution for food cleanup during the offseason. It's called "not having to make a mess".

But we're still not done. The article gives us a couple more lies on the way out. First we have McKay again:

McKay said refuse left in Angel Stadium by fans was mostly paper and plastic and not food.
But...
...on a recent 6 a.m. tour of the stadium - 12 hours after the end of a day game - Register staff observed nachos, peanuts, melted ice cream and ketchup-stained wrappers, among other edible refuse, lying on the floor of the stands. In stadium kitchens, including the Diamond Club Kitchen and Bar, dirty dishes and pots were stacked on tabletops and in sinks. Counters were greasy and unwiped. Wilted lettuce and food products were left out on countertops.

Bejeebus. In one of my many past lives, I worked in the food service industry for 10 years. Even 15 year-old bus boys know better than that. In that line of work, that is ridiculous behavior that even kids working at minimum wage would not find appropriate. And any boss caught lying about it would be fired on the spot.

And, finally, we get this nugget:
Angel Stadium lies near a river that provides a natural water source for vermin. Dodger Stadium sits in the middle of Elysian Park in Los Angeles.

"Angel Stadium has a higher-than-normal opportunity as it relates to vermin," Sanchez said.

Richard Sanchez is the Orange County Health Care Director of Environmental Health. Apparently he is unaware that the "river" of which he speaks IS A DRY RIVERBED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE BASEBALL SEASON! Meanwhile, Dodger Stadiumk is surrounded by large green areas which provide natural protective cover for vermin and are under constant support of irrigation!! Are you friggin' kidding me? If this is the reason than it should be geometrically WORSE in LA than in Anaheim.

This is utterly unacceptable and we should not stand for another minute of this.