Angels vs. Anaheim Dispute.

JAN. 3rd, 2005: Despite opposition from The City of Anaheim, The City of Los Angeles, Congresswoman Sanchez, and Orange County Residents, The Angel's LP officially changes the name of the Anaheim Angels baseball team to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, right in the middle of New Years Festivities, which sparks a lot of negative reactions from Orange County based fans and residents.

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JAN. 5th, 2005: Anaheim files a lawsuit against The Angel's LP.

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JAN. 19th, 2005: Los Angeles comes to Anaheim's aid by filing a document with The Orange County Court stating that The Angels should not be allowed to carry LA's Name.

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JAN. 21st, 2005: Judge Peter Polos deniied the City of Anaheim a Preliminary Injunction which would have blocked the Angels Baseball Team from using their new name until a civil trial.

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FEB. 16th, 2005: Anaheim's legal council advises the city to continue their case with The Angel's LP. A trial date was later scheduled for November 7th, 2005; and then later moved to January 9th, 2006. A marketing firm entitled Venture Marketing Solutions, devises the "DropLA.com Website" advertising t-shirts and stickers which say "We are not LA."

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FEB. 17th, 2005: The "DropLA.com Crew" begins selling "We are Not LA" T-shirts and Stickers at The Orange County Market Place.

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FEB. 26th, 2005: Violent Threats were hurled towards any fan who wore a "DropLA.com" t-shirt protesting the Angel's recent name change.

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FEB. 28th, 2005: Anaheim appealed Judge Polos' Ruling which denied the city a Preliminary Injunction, which would have blocked the Angels from using their new name.

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MAR. 28th, 2005: Another hearing is held between the City of Anaheim and The Angels at The Court of Appeals, as the city attempts to have Judge Polos' January 21st Decision overturned. A decision wouldn't be rendered until three months later.

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MAR. 29th, 2005: At an Anaheim City Counsel meeting, The DropLA.com Crew and Supporters of DropLA pledged their support to Mayor Curt Pringle, and the Anaheim City Coucil in their legal battle with The Angels' LP to keep "Anaheim" in the Team's Name (The Anaheim Angels). We are not LA T-shirts were presented to Curt Pringle, Richard Chavez, Bob Hernandez, Lorri Galloway, and Harry Sidhu of the Anaheim City Council.

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MAY. 3rd, 2005: California State Legislator, Tom Umberg, introduces the "Truth in Sports Advertising Act," which passed The Local Legislative Committee by a unanimous vote. This Bill was created in response to The Angels Team Name Change. According to the Bill, if it became a State Law, Sports Franchises representing another California City, other than the one they are playing in, would have to display the name of the city they are playing in on all tickets, sports merchandise, etc.

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MAY 17th, 2005: The State Assemblyman in Sacramento, CA; voted in favor of The Truth in Sports Advertising Act by a large majority vote of 50 to 18. The Bill then went to the California State Senate. The Bill was later put on hold pending the outcome of the trial.

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MAY 28th, 2005: Was "We are Not LA Day" at Anaheim Stadium. The event was covered by Channels 4, 5, 7, 9. 11 and Associated Press. The event was also covered by The Orange County Register.

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JUNE 6, 2005: The webmaster of Anaheim Angels Forever has a brief article published in the Orange County Register entitled "Truth is on Anaheim's Side."

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JUNE 27th, 2005: The Appeals Court upheld Judge Polos' January 21st, 2005 Court Decision which denied the City of Anaheim an Injunction which would have blocked The Angels form using their new name, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Judge Sills, however, stated that Anaheim was not in LA and that the denial of the injunction would by no means determine the outcome of the Angel's Civil Trial. Judge Sills also made a ruling from the bench that adding LA to the team's title was the same as removing Anaheim's name altogether. The Angels were allowed to use the new name for the remainder of the 2005 Season.

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FALL 2005: The Angels LP Threatened to move the Angels if the City of Anaheim wins their lawsuit. News of this and the upcoming trial sparks the ressurection of the civil war in The Angels Fanbase. Webmaster of "Anaheim Angels Forever" presents "Angel Fan of the Year 2005 Award" to Venture Marketing Solutions (Drop LA.com Crew).

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The Angels were able to land a major TV Deal worth one half of a billion dollars for ten years. The TV Executives, however, stated that The Angels re-branding their team as "Los Angeles" did not influence their decision. Their decision was based on The Angels product out on the field during the first part of the 21st Century. Under the continued superb leadership of Mike Scioscia,The Angels made it to the 2005 Post Season. This was the first time in Franchise History that The Halos made it to The Play-offs two consecutive years in a row.

The Angels made it to The American League Pennant Race during the 2005 Post Season, but were swept by the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox then went on to win the World Series to break the "Curse of the Black Sox."

ANGELS vs ANAHEIM TRIAL:

JANUARY 9, 2006: Trial Began. Associated Press did a story about the trial made reference to Anaheim Supporters wearing "We are NOT LA" shirts at the courthouse.

JANUARY 10 & 11: Jury Selected.

JANUARY 13TH: Anaheim's Lawyer and Angels' Lawyer give their opening statements.

JANUARY 17TH: Dave Morgan, Anaheim's City Manager Testified stating the Intent of the stadium lease didn't indicate that two city names could be in the Angels'Team Title. While cross examining Mr. Morgan, The Angels' Attorney established that the intent of the lease didn't exclusively mean that the Team had to be called the Anaheim Angels.

JANUARY 18TH: Anaheim Convention, Sports, and Entertainment Director, Greg Smith testified that "Anaheim Angels" and "California Angels" was always displayed on tickets and other items before Arte Moreno bought the team in 2003.

JANUARY 19th: John Thorn, Baseball Historian, testified that "Anaheim has vanished from the team title approximately 99.9% of the time from media sources and team merchandise. The Angels' attorney made a very weak rebuttle to Thorn's Testimony.

JANUARY 20th: Lawyers for Anaheim and The Angels have a mediation session to try to come up with a settlement, but The Angels' LP still refuses to drop LA from the team title.

JANUARY 23rd: Former Anaheim City Manager, Jim Ruth, testified under oath that two city names in the Team Title was never discussed during negotiations between Disney and Anaheim in 1996. He firther testified that the name "Los Angeles" in the Team title would have been a "Deal killer."

JANUARY 24th: The court heard Tony Tavares' Videotaped Testimony. His testimony stated that the City of Anaheim was to be predominant in the team's title, and be displayed on all merchandise. Tavares' Testimony gave the city a strong advantage over the Angel's LP in the court case.

JANUARY 27th: Anaheim's Lawyer asked Arte Moreno to take the stand as a "Hostile Witness." Moreno introduced a new concept to the term, Hostile Witness--"The Court Jester," in which he was in turn, repromanded by Anaheim's Attorney. Anaheim's Lawyer reminded Moreno that the court case was a very serious matter. Moreno admitted to Dropping Anaheim from the team's title on Angels Merchandise.

JANUARY 30th: Arte Moreno concluded his teatimony. Moreno admitted to not being aware of the "Emotional Curtain" deviding Orange County and Los Angeles. He also testified that he never talked about the name restrictions when he bought the team from Disney, and he never consulted with the Dodgers Owner, while he considered changing the name to Los Angels Angels of Anaheim.

JANUARY 31st: Former President of The Angels, Dennis Kuhl, testified that the clause team's lease, which requires Anaheim to be in the team's title is "Very Vague." This testimony means that the jury can consider "Original intent," when they begin their deiberations.

_____*_____ANAHEIM RESTS. _____*_____

FEBRUARY 1st: Anaheim rested its case, and the Angels began presenting their case by calling Tim Mead, one of the Angels Team Executives, to the stand. Tim Mead was able to show that Anaheim had not disappeared from the Angels Team Title entirely.

FEBRUARY 3rd: Former Executive Vice President of the Disney Corporation, Larry Murphy, was called as the Angels' 2nd witness. Murphy testified that Disney wanted flexibility as far a the Geographical Naming of the team went. Murphy's Testimony was defective, however, because he couldn't recall ever mentioning this to Anaheim City Officials. Also, Larry Murphy was not present during the last two thirds of Disney's Negotiations with the City of Anaheim. A list of possible names Disney was tossing around during negotiations with Anaheim, was presented to the court. The list included Orange County Waves, Pacific Angels, Orange County Surf, and Southern California Shades. There was nothing on the list which included Los Angeles, or two geographical regions.

FEBRUARY 6th: The Angels called 3 expert witnesses to the stand: 1) Lon Hatamiya showed that Anaheim's Hotel Bed Taxes stayed the same after The Angels changed the name from California Angels to Anaheim Angels, for four years. The taxes spiked when the name was changed to Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. After being cross examined by Anaheim's attorney, Hatamiya conceded that other factors could have had an impact on this. 2) Dr. Richard Gilbert, Professor at UC Berkely stated that there has been a 45% in crease in attendance at Anaheim Stadium since The Angels 2002 World Series Championship. 3) Angels Vice President, Molly Taylor testified that Anaheim has received 5.4 Million Dollars in ticket and parking revenue since Arte bought the team, where as they only earned $400,000 under Disney's Ownership.

FEBRUARY 7th: Arte Moreno was The Angels Final Witness, and he testified how much the team prospered after he took over ownership of the team.

_____*_____THE ANGELS REST_____*_____

FEBRUARY 8th & 9th: Closing Arguments were presented. Anaheim's Lawyer acknowledged that "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim technically compleis with the lease, but argued that the "Oxymoron title" violates a "Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Business Dealing" which also constitutes a breach of contract. After deliration, the jury came back with a verdict in favor of The Angels.

Mr. Autry brought the Major League Baseball's American League to the American West Coast.