Disney’s New Attraction: Mo-Town

Even though the news reports and Mo Vaughn’s quotes out of Boston indicated it would happen, I kept thinking I’d believe Disney would shell out for a free agent of Vaughn’s caliber when I saw him holding up an Angel jersey at the news conference.

At least, that’s what teams used to do when they signed a player. In the ‘90s things don’t work that way anymore. Vaughn stayed home in Easton, Mass. The news conference featured Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi, two team lawyers and two of Vaughn’s representatives, while behind them Vaughn’s mug with a computer-produced Angels cap was on a pair of big-screen televisions tuned to ESPNEWS.

Time to believe. Forget the uniform--if it’s on ESPN, and the lawyers and agents have signed off on it, it must be true.

Bavasi said Vaughn’s six-year, $80-million contract doesn’t mean the Angels are finished with the high-priced free agents (imagine Randy Johnson in periwinkle) and I’m ready to believe that as well.

“I think people would take us more seriously,” Bavasi said. “I would hope so.”

Eighty million bucks doesn’t only buy a ballplayer, it buys credibility.

Disney did it right. The brass in Burbank didn’t seem to care how much it might affect the spreadsheets, or if Mickey Mouse, Snow White and Simba will come asking for raises when they see what Vaughn is making.

The ramifications are huge. On the field, it puts them in better position to take on the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners. In Southern California, the Angels are ready to compete with the Dodgers.

This town needs a good rivalry, especially because Susan Lucci could win an Emmy before USC beats UCLA in football again.

With the signing of Vaughn, Disney just lobbed a grenade over at Fox. Disney took an ‘L’ when it scrapped plans for its ESPN West regional sports network and conceded the local cable scene to the Fox Sports West channels. Mo-mentum just switched back to the Mouse.

Now the Angels have a team that came closer to the playoffs last year, plays in a renovated stadium replete with luxury suites, and just made the biggest free-agent signing of the off-season. Both clubs hiked their ticket prices recently. Only the Angels have shown the higher costs will definitely result in a superstar free agent.

The Angels didn’t merely do their long-deprived fans a favor, they did all Southern California baseball fans a favor. Because now the Dodgers have to keep pace.

The only bad thing about this signing is it will hasten the demise of Dodger Stadium. The Fox folks--who just announced they won’t make any serious renovations to Dodger Stadium--will say they just can’t compete without more stadium revenue. In other words, a new stadium.

I’d take Dodger Stadium over any ballpark west of the Mississippi. I love the fact it looks pretty much the same way it did when Sandy Koufax pitched there.

But for kids who’d rather face a virtual-reality fastball than watch major leaguers throw the real thing, and for the well-to-do for whom a night at the ballpark wouldn’t be complete without freshly carved prime rib and a nice cabernet, Edison Field has it beat.

The Dodgers no longer have the special appeal they once did, and it sounds as if the Angels are starting to get a good reputation for player treatment.

Vaughn said a phone call and a letter played as big a role as the numbers in his signing. He liked that the Angels called him as soon as the bell rang to open the free-agent period. He was touched by a letter Bavasi sent along with the offer.

“He said some nice things that I never knew about myself and how I looked on the ballfield,” Vaughn said.

Said Adam Katz, one of Vaughn’s agents: “They treated Mo very respectfully from Day One.”

Hopefully that means we won’t be subjected to the same soap opera Boston fans heard over the past year, when Vaughn said the Red Sox disrespected him, that it was over, then that they’d have a chance, that they blew that chance, then that he would take less money to stay in Boston, then there was no way he would come back to Boston.

That’s all in the past. So is the Angels’ penchant for signing players after their prime. Some big names have come to Anaheim. Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield. But they won’t be remembered for what they did in Angel uniforms.

Vaughn will be 31 next season. He has hit 35 or more home runs in each of the past four seasons.

His presence makes Jim Edmonds even more expendable, but it doesn’t mean Bavasi has to trade Edmonds for the first pitcher he’s offered. Given the Angels’ knack for injuries, they could use the depth. And if they sign Randy Johnson this weekend, they won’t need to trade for a starting pitcher at all. A rotation featuring Johnson, Chuck Finley and Ken Hill with Darin Erstad, Vaughn and Tim Salmon in the lineup ought to be enough to get the Angels to October.

Yes, it’s safe to think about the Angels making it to the playoffs. Things have changed.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com

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By The Numbers

$80,000,000

Third-largest contract in baseball, and most in Angel history by $57.5 million (over Tim Salmon).

$13,333,333

Average salary, highest in baseball history.

$82,304.52

Vaughn’s average salary per game if he plays in all 162 regular-season games.

.337

Batting average in 1998, second in the American League.

143

Vaughn’s career high in runs batted in; Angel record is 139 by Don Baylor in 1979.

44

Vaughn’s career high in home runs; Angel record is 39 by Reggie Jackson in 1982.