Why arent Angels as appreciated?

Question

Whether they are 70-23 or 23-72, they arent as appreciated as they should. What I mean by that is like products and souviners and fans. Just look at Yankees, they have a lot of nice hats with tight designs but angels only have a little bit. Garret Anderson made Club Record of 10 RBI in a night but not so much knows, but A Rod makes his 500th Homerun and the whole world knows. WHY IS THAT? Angels are playing so good right now. Maybe World Series will make things better.

Answer 1

Easy. West Coast bias.

Unless they are playing an afternoon game, whenever they are playing, most everyone out in the East Coast is asleep. It also helps that they were the 2nd team in the LA area (after the Dodgers), and until recently, have associated themselves more Anaheim and Orange County rather than Los Angeles (and wheres Anaheim on the scope of things, other than Disneyworld).

Most every team out West, regardless of sport dont get appreciated as much unless they are running on numerous championships, consistently a good team for years, have a history, or have a big time name player everyone can name, like USC, Lakers, Dodgers, and Giants as examples. I can probably guarentee you that out West, they are more than likely getting a lot more attention than out east.

Answer 2

If you're talking about the coverage on sportscenter and other sports shows, the main reason is the time zones. East coast people have already finished catching up on their sports for the day around the time that the Angels are starting their game. They're usually asleep before there are even runs scored in the game let alone by the time the game is finished. However, people on the West Coast will always be awake for the East Coast games, and with the Yankees having the largest market, anybody can see their games.

As for marketing, the interlocking NY that represents the Yankees is known world wide while the Angels are changing their name and uniform every couple years. They went from California Angels, to Anaheim Angels to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in like 15 years or something. Basically, half the merchandise sold is no longer existent. This also hurts current sales because a fan may not want to buy a jersey now if the team has a chance in bringing in new uniforms within the next 3 years.

And you can't compare 10 RBIs in one game to 500 homeruns. Everyone above me has listed the reasons why so I won't get into that.

Answer 3

I think it's a combination of things. The Angels face the west coast bias, so a lot of people in this country area asleep when west coast teams finish their cames. The Angels are a relatively young team, and unfortunately they really didn't have a noteworthy record until the last 5-6 years. The Angels don't hit that many home runs, and fans that's what the fans want to see, so no big stories about home runs. No big stories like A-Rod's 500th HR, Bond's all time HR record, etc...

They compete with attention against a "storied" franchise in the LA Dodgers, who have already won a few World Series. I know a lot of very casual sports fans that know all about the Dodgers being a very good team, but nothing about the Angels, who own them in interleague play. At lot of the TV media is LA based, so that doesn't help too much.

There are a lot of other diversions that keep the locals' attention. A lot of people in Orange County have other things to do, other sports to watch, if they watch sports. A good number of locals don't know the Angels won the WS in 2002 or the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup earlier this year. The bad traffic keeps a lot of people from making it to the game before the 2nd inning. (I'm lucky I live a few miles from Angels Stadium.) And yesterday, when the Angels won in the 10th, I saw about 20% of the fans leave the game at the end of the 9th! What the heck?

Answer 4

I agree that the Angels are the best team that no one pays any attention to. There are a few reasons:
They play on the west coast, so half the country is asleep by the time their games even get into the fifth inning, and they are the second most popular team in the LA area. They might be better than the Dodgers, but they are a newer team and don't have as many fans.


As for your specific examples, though:

The teams design the souvenirs and hats. If you're an Angels fan, and don't like the selection available, write to the team's front office and tell them. And Garret Anderson's 10 RBIs just isn't as big a deal as ARod's 500 homers. 10 RBIs is only a team record, not a major league record, and it's a one game achievement, not a career one. People set team records all the time. 500 homers is a huge deal. Mark McGwire is the only player who's eligible for the Hall of Fame, has hit 500 homers, and isn't in. Not only that, but ARod is the youngest player ever to get to 500 homers. It really was a much more major accomplishment.

Answer 5

The Angles have a solid team this year and could win it all, but there is far less interest in that franchise, from all fans around the country, when compared to the Yankees, Red Sox and others. Of course, the media will vacillate toward those teams that most fans want to hear about in a effort to keep their ratings up. It gets back to that same old story, everyone follows the money.

Answer 6

Without having to go into what matters in California, mostly because I do not know what people are actually thinking, It does not appear that the angels have the same fan base as the Yankees or red sox. Which would definitely sway the people writing about baseball to sway where the paycheck is coming from(advertising), no money no publicity.

Answer 7

It's because they play on the left coast. no one cares about the left coast.
When they did win the world series a few years ago, still no one cared.
They could win the world series this year, and still on one would care.
I know the angels have a good team, and I know that if The Tigers ever played in the postseason, as a fan, I would be nervous....but in general... I simply do not care for, or like, any of those left coast teams. because they are on the left coast.

Answer 8

They simply are not a highly marketable team with a very small fan base that never seems to grow.

The team also never is in the headlines. They need something interesting like a big story be it bad or good news that captures the eyes and ears of baseball fans all over.

They need a personality.

Answer 9

I feel the same way when was the last time you saw a team be down 5-0 in the first inning and still win??

Answer 10

It's a West Coast deal.