Curse of the Name Change (2005).

On January 3, 2005; Arturo Moreno changed the name of The Anaheim Angels Major League Baseball Team to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This action sparked protests from sports fans in Orange County, California; who did not want to be associated with the City of Los Angeles. This also sparked objections from the Los Angeles Dodgers, the City of Los Angeles, and of course, the City of Anaheim. The City of Anaheim took The Angels LP to court over the change, but lost their case on February 9, 2005. A few months later, Anaheim Officials appealed the court's decision. The case is still tied up in court. The Angels organization has had a lot of success as there have been winning teams out on the field for most of the Twenty First Century so far. Many Angels Fans before 2002 believed there was "The [http://baseball.about.com/od/majorleaguehistory/tp/baseballcurses.htm Curse of the Cowboy.] " There were some beliefs that Angel Stadium was built on a Native American Buriel Ground, and that this brought bad luck to the team at the wrong times. The Post Season Disappointments of 1982 and 1986, their horrific collapse in the 1995 Season, and the tragic deaths of Lyman Bostock and Donnie Moore have been attributed to the Curse of the Cowboy. This curse was supposedly broken by the Rally Monkey and by The Angels winning the World Series Championship in 2002. But now some Angels Fans think The Curse of the Cowboy has been replaced by a new one--The Curse of the Name Change (2005). The Angels won the 2002 World Series Championship in 2002 as the Anaheim Angels, which at that time was owned by the Disney Corporation. Since the Angels LP added "Los Angeles" to the team's title, however, The Angels have continued to have winning records during the regular season, but their post seasons have been just like their disappointing post seasons of 1982 and 1986. In 2007, The Angels had one of their best seasons ever, but when they got to the first round of the post season, they were swept and humiliated by the Boston Red Sox The Anaheim Ducks Hockey Team (NHL) which chose not to follow in The Angels' footsteps by adding Los Angels to their name, were Stanley Cup Champions in 2007. In 2008, The Angels had the best record during the regular season, as it was the only Major League Baseball Team (in both the Americah League and National League) to win 100 games. Despite their success in 2008, The Angels seemed to be "Flying under the radar" and unnoticed by the media. [http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/2008/08/02/20080802mlbangels0803.html [ref] .] Also during their successful 2008 Season, The Angels were voted as being the "Most Unpopular Major League Baseball Team in the United States by the [http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PollYear=2008 Harris Poll] . During the 2008 ALDS, The Angels were again blown of of the first round of the American League Play Offs by the Boston Red Sox, three games to one, which is very substandard for a team which was the only to win 100 games during the regular season. Meanwhile, during the 2008 Season, another professional sports franchise brought another league championship to Orange County. The Orange County Flyers defeated the Calgary Vipers in the Golden Baseball League Championship Series. Baseball curses, like the Curse of the Bambino, and the Curse of the Billy Goat are merely superstitions which have become documented in the pages of Baseball Folklore. The Curse of the Name Change, however, documents a MLB Team which tries to accomplish certain goals by trying to pass itself off as something it isn't. Baseball Teams which try to be something they're not most of the time will never win a World Series.

External Links:

[http://www.angelsbaseball.com Angels Official Website.]
[http://baseball.about.com/od/majorleaguehistory/tp/baseballcurses.htm Famous Baseball Curses.]