No Playoffs, No Payoffs : Businesses Rooting Hard for Angels

ANAHEIM —  Inside CC’s Sportsbar Tuesday afternoon, manager Joe Gouveia picked some empty glasses off a table and talked about the predicament he and other business owners near Anaheim Stadium find themselves in, as the California Angels’ once-commanding lead in the American League West continues to shrink.

“We’re on hold,” said Gouveia, whose bar enjoys large crowds before and after games. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that they’ll come through.”

Throughout the Anaheim Stadium area, bars, restaurants and hotels that endured lengthy baseball and National Hockey League strikes and the departure of the Los Angeles Rams find themselves caught in the middle again as the Angels put another potential financial windfall at risk.

Up by 11 games in early August, the team has gone through a losing streak that has jeopardized what seemed like a certain playoff berth, making it difficult for businesses to plan for the playoffs.

Operators of The Catch Seafood Grill and Sportsbar, across the street from the Big A, canceled plans for a large wedding reception that had been scheduled for a playoff day, and employees were told to be prepared to work double-shifts.

But now they’re wondering if it will all be for naught.

“This is supposed to be the silver lining,” said Don Meyers, the restaurant’s managing partner. “Everyone has been anticipating a huge October here. A few months ago, it looked like a World Series. Now, we’re sitting here wondering if they are going to get through the playoffs or get a wild card. We really are hanging on every pitch.”

El Torito Restaurant, usually packed with pre- and post-game crowds, has had to put off a decision on whether to hire additional servers and bartenders next month.

“We want to hire more people for the playoffs but we’re afraid, because it’s only two games that they are ahead now,” Ruben Preciado, associate general manager, lamented Tuesday afternoon.

The Hungry Hunter Restaurant is working toward completing an outside patio in time for the baseball playoffs. “They are going to make it, aren’t they?” manager Rob Koblinski asked, a bit nervously.

But if the Angels falter, the eatery figures to still enjoy big crowds out on the patio from Mighty Ducks games because of its proximity to The Pond, Koblinski said.

The last time the Angels were in a playoff series was 1986.

If the team wins a wild card spot, games will be played in Anaheim on Oct. 3 and 5. If it wins the division title, games will be played at the Big A on Oct. 6, 7 and 8.

As of Tuesday, there were 11 games left in the season. Any combination of Angel victories and losses by the division’s second-place team that add up to the number 10 would give the Angels the division title.

The World Series will start on Saturday, Oct. 21, with three games scheduled in the American League city.

While local bars and eateries struggle with staffing and other questions, area hotels face a different dilemma: How long do they hold on to rooms for teams, media and baseball fans on playoff and World Series dates?

“We thought they were a shoo-in,” said Michael Krouse, director of marketing and sales at Hilton Suites. “But right now, it’s a matter of wait and see. We are sold out on playoff days and we have bookings for the World Series, should it come. If [the Angels] fall apart, then we say goodby to all of that.”

Krouse said that he has already been forced to book guests into some suites that he had been reserving for the World Series as a “precautionary measure.”

“It’s really upsetting,” he said.

The Doubletree Hotel in Orange, which is down the street from the stadium, continues to keep rooms open for visiting teams and media, but officials there are wondering if any will be used.

“We’ve had to juggle some dates because, if they don’t make it as a playoff team, they could make it as a wild card,” said Betty Thurston, the hotel’s sales manager. “We want to have that confidence and be supportive that the Angels will make it.”

Meyers said that, since The Catch opened up in 1979, he has watched the Angels suffer some heartbreaking collapses as they neared the playoffs or World Series. He said he hopes this time will be different.

“After 16 years, we’d love for them to do it for Gene Autry,” the Angels’ 87-year-old owner, he said. “They have to turn it around. Someone has got to get in there and stop the bleeding.”

“I guess that’s why they call it a pennant race,” he added. “It’s like the tortoise and the hare. The Angels were the hare in the beginning, but now the tortoise is creeping up on them. And they have us on the edge of our seats.”