Judge Allows Angels to Change Name: A California state court judge issued a crushing blow to the city of Anaheim on Friday in its case against the Angels. The judge denied the motion for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented the team from changing its name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, ruling that the city did not prove a "a reasonable probability" of winning at trial. The only step remaining for the city is to go to trial, but such a trial would likely not take place until after the team had played the entire 2005 season under its new monniker. Thus, the city must decide whether it is worth the time and the resources to continue fighting the legal battle. The city has not yet decided, though at least one city councilman has vowed to fight the legal battle until the end.



The judge based his ruling on two findings. One, he ruled that the city appeared to have technically complied with a plain meaning of the stadium lease, which requires that the team retain "Anaheim" in its name. The city has argued that under the new name, the team will be referred to as the "Los Angeles Angels," which violates the purpose of the clause in increasing the visibility of the city of Anaheim.



Second, the judge found that the city would not be irreparably harmed by the name change, because even if the city won in trial, it could be assessed monetary damages to compensate for the time in which the new name was used. This, the city argues, ignores the numerous non-monetary benefits intended when the clause was inserted.



I think that the city still has a pretty good chance at trial, based on the clear intention of the clause and the even clearer intention of the team to be known as the "L.A. Angels." An entire season of the team being referred to as "L.A." will only help the city's case. For what it's worth, the city of Los Angeles does not want the team being referred to as "LA" either, because the team does not pay any taxes in the city. It remains to be seen, though, whether the city will fight on. In any case, cities will certainly be more specific in their contract language in the future. A simple language change insisting that the team be referred to as the "Anaheim Angels" or "Anaheim ________" if the nickname were to change may have prevented this entire problem.

The parties will appear before the judge again in March to set a trial date, though the judge expressed his desire that the two parties reach a settlement before that time.



Update: For now, on the Major League Baseball website, the Angels are listed as "Angels" and not by their city, unlike every other team. The official team site has the name change. It will be interesting to track other changes.

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