Los Angeles Angels Purchased By Arte Moreno
By David Hill
There may not be many minority managers in baseball, but there is a lack of diversity in ownership as well. On this day in 2003, Arte Moreno became the first Hispanic owner in baseball history when he purchased the Los Angeles Angels.
Since coming into the game in 1962, the Los Angeles Angels have had fairly stable ownership. Gene Autry, the former movie star, owned the team before selling controlling interest in the franchise to Disney in 1995. After eight years of ownership, the Angels were sold to advertising billionaire Arte Moreno, the first Hispanic team owner in Major League history.
Disney was certainly in a good position to sell the franchise at that point. The Angels had just won the World Series the previous season, and with the excitement surrounding the team at that point, Disney was set to make a solid profit.
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Moreno’s tenure has been a mixed bag when it comes to results. He opened up his checkbook to sign big name players in free agency, making a splash with the signings of Vladimir Guerrero early on, and players like Josh Hamilton, C.J. Wilson and Albert Pujols recently. While Guerrero and Wilson were solid contributors for the Angels, Hamilton was a complete bust and Pujols may prove to be a disaster as well in the coming years.
However, the Angels have made the postseason six times in his thirteen years of owenership. While they have not yet gone back to the World Series, Moreno’s willingness to open up the vaults and bring in the best talent he can will continue to make the Angels an interesting team to watch as they seek to get back into contention.
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Some of the moves made by the Angels since Arte Moreno has become the owner of the team may be questionable, but they have certainly been interesting to watch since this day thirteen years ago.