Rams’ Stan Kroenke agrees to buy Angels
From Sam Farmer and Bill Shaikin: Rams owner Stan Kroenke has agreed to buy the Angels, adding Major League Baseball to a portfolio that spans six leagues and two continents.
The deal marks the end of Arte Moreno’s turbulent ownership of the Angels, with the news triggering shock followed by celebration among beleaguered fans whose team owns baseball’s longest playoff drought.
The transaction runs through Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, Kroenke’s holding company, which also owns the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, the Colorado Rapids of MLS and Arsenal of the English Premier League.
The Angels are being sold for an MLB-record $4-billion valuation, a person with knowledge of the deal not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times. The previous high was the $3.9-billion sale of the San Diego Padres that was completed last month.
Forbes had valued the Angels at $2.8 billion in March. The sale is “subject to customary closing conditions” and MLB approval, with the expectation it will close in the first quarter of next year, according to a news release announcing the deal.
Light the Big A! Stan Kroenke just made Angels fans big winners
Angels fans hold up signs on Tuesday thanking Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, led by Stan Kroenke, for buying the majority share of the Angels from Art Moreno.
(Mark J. Terrill / Ap Photo/mark J. Terrill)
From Bill Plachke: Whose house? Angels’ house!
To all you long-suffering Halos fans, light that baby up, because salvation is at hand.
His name is Stan Kroenke, and he’s Rams tough, and he’s just spent a record $4 billion to transform your slumbering baseball organization into something that dazzles like Matthew Stafford and dominates like Myles Garrett.
Kroenke, whose illustrious ownership of the Rams resulted in their move to Los Angeles, a $5.5-billion stadium, and a Super Bowl championship, has agreed to take control of the Angels’ carcass from Arte Moreno in the franchise’s best move since Darin Erstad caught that fly ball on Oct. 27, 2002.
This is huge. This is landscape altering. This is like Southern California just added an expansion team led by one of the best owners in sports.
For the Angels, currently the second-worst team in baseball and on track to finish a league-worst 12th consecutive season out of the playoffs, this is downright life changing.
Kroenke builds. Kroenke spends. Kroenke wins.
Angels exuberant about Stan Kroenke buying the franchise
Angels star Mike Trout, center, was excited to learn Rams owner Stan Kroenke bought the majoirty share of the Angels.
(Joe Scarnici / Getty Images)
From Bill Shaikin: Mike Trout was practically beaming. He dropped the phrase “fresh start” four times in an interview that barely lasted five minutes.
The burden of the Angels’ failures has been disproportionately his to bear. He has insisted that his path to Cooperstown would run through Anaheim and only Anaheim. He has played 16 seasons for an owner that blessed him with half a billion dollars, treated his family like royalty and stranded him in position to conclude a star-spangled career without ever winning a postseason game.
On Tuesday, Trout learned that the Angels would have a new owner: Stan Kroenke. Trout got off the call, looked up Kroenke and has not stopped smiling since.
“What a track record,” Trout said. “Wherever he buys, he wins.”
MORE ANGELS COVERAGE:
Arellano: Arte Moreno finally sells the Angels. Anaheim’s long nightmare is over
Shaikin: ‘A big day for Anaheim.’ Angels get a fresh start with Stan Kroenke, and much more
Yankees strike back, beat Angels on day Anaheim team sale is announced
Sluggish Dodgers open homestand with lopsided loss to Cardinals
Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker can’t reach a fifth-inning homer by Cardinals shortstop Thomas Saggese at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers’ August woes followed them into the first day of September.
Roster expansion, returning three players from the injured list, the mental relief of turning the calendar page — none of that gave the Dodgers the boost they needed against the Cardinals on Tuesday.
Instead, the Dodgers lost 13-8 to a team that entered the day 4 ½ games out of the last National League wild-card spot.
“I just think tonight we just got behind the eight ball,” manager Dave Roberts said.
MORE DODGERS
Will Smith and Dalton Rushing among Dodgers activated as rosters expand for September
Ignore the out-of-town trolls. Los Angeles sports fans are the nation’s best
USC fans brace for the heat before kickoff of the Trojans’ game against San José State at the Coliseum on Saturday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
From Bill Plaschke: The coach was mad. Sections of his home stadium were empty for a blowout win against an overmatched opponent, and he couldn’t understand why.
“I can honestly say I was a little disappointed there weren’t more students at the last game,” the coach said, adding, “There’s got to be a spirit that makes it special to play here, because that’s what makes it special to be here. And if that’s not here…”
Lincoln Riley after USC’s sparsely attended opener?
No, that was Nick Saban after a midseason home game between Alabama and Louisiana in 2018.
Hmmm. Empty seats even at the royal palace of the king of college football, huh?
There has been much similar chatter this week after the sports landscape witnessed a virtual ghost town at the USC opener against San José State Saturday at the Coliseum. There was an announced crowd of 51,444 but only about half that many showed up, immersing a national television audience in a giant bowl of empty red that left outsiders in a rage.
They called the Los Angeles sports fans a disgrace. They said they weren’t real sports fans. They whined so loudly on social media that USC embarrassingly felt compelled to issue a statement promising better turnouts.
“We understand the factors that impacted Saturday’s attendance,” read the statement. “We have high expectations and a premier home schedule this season, and we know the competitive advantage an electric Coliseum atmosphere can provide our program. We thank our fans who showed up Saturday and look forward to seeing increased attendance the rest of the season.”
With all due respect, I would like to issue a second statement to all you arrogant dummies spouting lazy cliches about a market you don’t understand.
Stick a foam finger in it.
MORE USC NEWS:
Lincoln Riley defends USC amid criticism of season opener crowd
This day in sports history
1901 — Seven-year-old Ogden wins two races in a single day at Sheepshead Bay race track in Coney Island, New York. Ogden edges Cameron by a head in the second race on the card, a six furlong sprint on the main track. In the sixth race, a 1 1-16 mile distance on the turf, Ogden beats Monarka by a length.
1908 — Tommy Burns knocks out Bill Lang in the sixth round in Melbourne for his last successful defense of his heavyweight title.
1924 — Bill Tilden wins his fifth straight U.S. men’s singles title with a 6-1, 9-7, 6-2 victory over Bill Johnston.
1940 — Byron Nelson wins the PGA by beating Sam Snead 1-up at the Hershey Country Club in Pennsylvania.
1945 — Frank Parker wins the men’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships by beating Bill Talbert. Sarah Palfrey Cooke beats Pauline Betz for the women’s title.
1965 — Cubs slugger Ernie Banks hits his MLB 400th career HR (off Curt Simmons) in Chicago’s 5-3 win v St. Louis at Wrigley Field; Simmons also gave up Willie Mays’ 400th HR in 1963.
1970 — The tie-break debuts in Grand Slam tennis at the U.S. Open. A total of 26 tie-breaks (the nine-point sudden death tie-break) are played on the first day of the tournament. Bob McKinley and Ray Ruffels both win matches in fifth-set tie-breaks.
1971 — Sixteen-year-old Chris Evert wins the first of her record 101 U.S. Open matches, defeating Edda Buding, 6-1, 6-0, in 42 minutes. Jimmy Connors, playing on 19th birthday, comes back from a two-set deficit to beat Alex Olmedo for his first U.S. Open victory.
1984 — In his first NFL start, Atlanta’s Gerald Riggs rushes for 202 yards and scores two touchdowns as the Falcons beat New Orleans 36-28.
1991 — Jimmy Connors turns 39 years old and rallies from a 2-5 fifth-set deficit to defeat 24-year-old Aaron Krickstein, 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6. The fourth-round Labor Day match lasts 4 hours and 41 minutes.
1995 — Frank Bruno wins a heavyweight championship in his fourth attempt registering a unanimous decision over Oliver McCall to take his WBC title in Wembley, England.
2001 — Michael Schumacher becomes the winningest driver in Formula One history, winning the Belgian Grand Prix for his 52nd career victory. Schumacher breaks the mark shared with Alain Prost and clinches his fourth world championship.
2004 — In a second-round match, Sargis Sargsian defeats Nicolas Massu, 6-7 (8), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, in five hours and nine minutes. It’s the second-longest match on record at the U.S. Open and falls 18 minutes shy of breaking the record for longest match, set in 1992 when Stefan Edberg defeated Michael Chang in 5:26 in the semifinals.
2007 — Clay Buchholz throws a no-hitter in his second career start against the Baltimore Orioles.
2008 — Adrian Beltre goes 5 for 6 and hits for the cycle in a 12-6 Seattle Mariners win over the Texas Rangers.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1929 — Joe Cronin of the Washington Senators hit for the cycle in a 10-7 win against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
1937 — For the second time this season, two batters opened a game with home runs. Boze Berger and Mike Kreevich of the Chicago White Sox connected off Boston’s Johnny Marcum, en route to a 4-2 win over the Red Sox.
1944 — Dixie Walker of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit for the cycle and drove in four runs in an 8-4 win over the New York Giants at Ebbets Field.
1952 — Mike Fornieles of the Washington Senators, in his major league debut, pitched a one-hitter for a 5-0 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics in the second game of a doubleheader.
1957 — The Milwaukee Braves swept the Chicago Cubs, 23-10 and 4-0. Bob Hazle of the Braves got four hits in the first game and teammate Frank Torre scored six runs to tie the major league record.
1963 — Cincinnati’s Pete Rose hit a leadoff homer of Jay Hook to give the Reds a 1-0 win over the New York Mets in the second game of a doubleheader at the Polo Grounds.
1965 — Ernie Banks hit his 400th home run as the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 at Wrigley Field. The blow came off Curt Simmons in the third inning.
1971 — Cesar Cedeno’s 200-foot fly ball in the fifth inning fell for an inside-the-park grand slam home run as second baseman Jim Lefebvre and right fielder Bill Buckner of the Dodgers collided. The hit helped the Houston Astros beat Los Angeles 9-3.
1972 — Milt Pappas of the Chicago Cubs retired 26 consecutive San Diego Padres before walking pinch-hitter Larry Stahl on a 3-2 pitch. Pappas then retired Gary Jestadt to finish his 8-0 no-hitter.
1987 — Houston’s Kevin Bass went 4-for-4, including home runs from both sides of plate, and drove in three runs as the Astros posted a 10-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
1990 — Dave Stieb, who had lost three no-hit bids with one out to go in the previous two seasons, finally pitched one as the Toronto Blue Jays beat Cleveland 3-0. It was the record ninth no-hitter of the season.
1996 — Mike Greenwell set a major league record by driving in all nine Boston runs, the final one on a 10th-inning single to give the Red Sox a 9-8 victory over Seattle.
2001 — New York’s Mike Mussina came within one strike of pitching the first perfect game in the 89-year history of Fenway Park in a 1-0 win over Boston. Mussina’s bid was broken up by pinch-hitter Carl Everett’s clean single.
2002 — Miguel Tejada had his second straight game-ending hit as he singled home Terrence Long with the bases loaded in the ninth inning as Oakland tied the longest winning streak in AL history with a 7-6 victory over Kansas City. Oakland, which overcame a 5-0 deficit, equaled the 19 straight wins by the 1906 Chicago White Sox and the 1947 New York Yankees.
2003 — Eric Gagne set a major league record with his 55th consecutive save in Los Angeles’s 4-1 victory over Houston.
2009 — Alex Rodriguez picks up the 2,500th hit of his career as his Yankees defeat Baltimore, 10 – 2, to complete a sweep at Camden Yards. Eric Hinske‘s home run is the Bronx Bombers’ 20th at the park this season, the most by a visiting team since the ballpark opened in 1992. CC Sabathia earns his American League-leading 16th win.
2012 — Jurickson Profar made quite a debut at age 19, homering in his first major league at-bat and doubling his next time up in the Texas Rangers’ 8-3 win over Cleveland.
2015 — Clayton Kershaw strikes out 15 batters tying a career best and setting a new personal record of 251 for the season.
2022 — Yu Darvish reaches a rare milestone with a strikeout of Cody Bellinger in the 5th inning of the Padres’ 7 – 1 win over the Dodgers: this gives him 1,750 Ks in ten major league seasons, and this gives him 3,000 when the 1,250 he amassed in seven seasons in Japan are added. Among all pitchers who have struck out 1,000 or more batters on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, only Hideo Nomo has preceded Darvish in reaching the mark.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.