A Year of Transition

The year of 1996 in Orange County sports was notable as much for what didn’t happen as what did:

* NFL football didn’t return, though Seattle Seahawks’ owner Ken Behring flirted with a move and even held a few practices in Anaheim.

* The Clippers didn’t accept a $95-million offer to play full time at the Pond.

* The Ducks didn’t make the playoffs, though they finished the season as one of the hottest teams in the NHL.

But not all the news was negative:

* Disney and Anaheim did iron out their differences, clearing the way for the company’s purchase of 25% of the Angels.

* Jim Abbott did finally win another game for the Angels.

* And prodigal golfer Tiger Woods certainly did make an impact on the PGA Tour after winning his third consecutive U.S. Amateur.

Let’s take a closer look at the year:

JANUARY

Big News: Angel transactions dominated the month. First the team signed Chuck Finley and Abbott to multiyear deals, solidifying a pitching staff expected to make the Angels a favorite in the American League West.

Ten days later, the baseball owners approved the purchase of 25% interest in the Angels by the Walt Disney Co. But even as Jackie Autry handed Disney chairman Michael Eisner the keys to Anaheim Stadium, Disney was reserving the right to scuttle the deal unless an agreement was reached within 60 days on a $110-million stadium renovation.

Hot Streak: The Mighty Ducks’ Paul Kariya, picked as a reserve for the NHL All-Star game, got the start in his first all-star appearance when Vancouver’s Pavel Bure bowed out with an injury.

FEBRUARY

Big News: The Mighty Ducks got serious when they made a deal with the Winnipeg Jets for Teemu Selanne. Selanne, acquired in exchange for Oleg Tverdovsky and Chad Kilger, had eight goals and seven assists in his first nine games, helping the Ducks to five victories.

Hot Streak: Cal State Fullerton’s baseball team, which finished the 1995 season with an 18-game winning streak and a College World Series championship, won 12 in a row after opening the season by losing to Stanford. The streak would grow to 15 before a 1-0 loss to Pepperdine.

MARCH

Big News: Disney announced it was pulling out of the deal to buy 25% of the Angels because it couldn’t come to an agreement with Anaheim city officials in negotiations over Anaheim Stadium renovations.

Seahawk owner Behring shifted operations to the former Rams Park facility in Anaheim and was planning on the Seahawks playing their games somewhere in the Southland--perhaps in Anaheim--in 1996. The NFL had other ideas, however, and under threat of a $500,000 fine (and an additional $50,000 for each week the team practiced in Anaheim), the Seahawks returned to Seattle.

Hot Streaks: The Ducks win six in a row and are unbeaten in seven in a row. That moved them into a tie with Winnipeg for the final playoff spot.

The Mater Dei and Woodbridge girls’ basketball teams finished the season by winning state championships--Mater Dei in Division I and Woodbridge in Division II.

APRIL

Big News: Three weeks after the deal was pronounced dead, Disney and Anaheim reached an agreement on renovation of the Big A that cleared the way for Disney’s purchase of controlling interest in the Angels. Under the deal, Disney agreed to fund $70 million of the $100 million in renovation costs in exchange for keeping most of the revenue generated by the facility during a 33-year lease.

Despite a 12-3-2 record in their final 17 games, the Mighty Ducks fell short of making the playoffs.

Woods, in one of his final collegiate appearances for Stanford, shot a course-record 61 at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach at the Pacific 10 Conference Championships.

Hot Streak: Angel reliever Troy Percival, filling in for injured stopper Lee Smith, saved a major league-high eight games in the month.

MAY

Big News: Disney took operating control of the Angels and Richard Brown, team president for six years, was among the first to be let go. About 20 in the front office were laid off. Baseball operations were left essentially unchanged.

Dubious Achievement: The Cal State Fullerton baseball team, ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the season, fell short in its bid for a third consecutive trip to the College World Series. The Titans lost to Rice, 13-10, in the NCAA Midwest Regional despite two home runs by Mark Kotsay.

JUNE

Big News: The Clippers were coming! The Clippers were coming! Then they weren’t. Again, Sterling nixed a deal to move his team to the Pond. This one reportedly was a 12-year package worth $95 million--to be paid by Anaheim and Ogden, the operator of the Pond.

Hot Streak: The Angels came from behind to win 10 of 11 games during one stretch, batting .324 with 25 home runs during the span. Tim Salmon was especially torrid with 15 runs, 18 hits, seven homers and 14 runs batted in during the streak.

JULY

Big News: There was a passing of the torch among Orange County’s Olympians. Placentia’s Janet Evans, who won four gold medals in the 1988 and ’92 Olympics, didn’t medal in what was almost certainly her last Olympics as a competitor. But Amanda Beard, the 14-year-old swimmer from Irvine, won a gold medal in the 400-meter medley relay and two individual silver medals.

Evans, of course, also passed the torch, literally, to Muhammad Ali during the opening ceremony.

Dubious Achievement: The Angels were only 8 1/2 games behind the Texas Rangers at the all-star break. By the end of the month, they were being swept by Detroit, the worst team in baseball, and trailed the Rangers by double digits.

AUGUST

Big News: Marcel Lachemann resigned as Angel manager, unable to cope with the mounting losses and unsure how to jump-start a team expected to challenge for the AL West title. John McNamara took over as interim manager, but Joe Maddon served in the position for three weeks while McNamara recovered from a potentially life-threatening blood clot in his leg.

Hot Streak: Trailing by five holes with 18 to play and by two with three left, Woods rallied to beat Steve Scott, 1-up, in 38 holes at the U.S. Amateur. It was the third consecutive Amateur title--a feat never before accomplished--for Woods, who turned professional that week.

SEPTEMBER

Big News: Abbott finally won again. After 129 days and 11 consecutive decisions without a victory, a demotion to the minor leagues and thoughts of retirement, Abbott got credit for a 4-2 victory at Minnesota early in the month.

Concerns about medical screening of high school athletes were raised after several players died in the Southland. Two of the players died in the county. Saddleback High water polo player Jaffet “Jeff” Campos collapsed at practice and Coronado football player Adrian Taufaasau, a quarterback for Coronado High, died two days after being injured in a game against Costa Mesa.

Dubious Achievement: For the first time in 11 seasons, Angel ace Chuck Finley struck out more than 200--he had 215, second in the American League to Roger Clemens. But Finley finished 15-16, the most losses in a season in his career.

OCTOBER

Big News: The Angels trade 36-year-old designated hitter Chili Davis to Kansas City for veteran pitcher Mark Gubicza and double-A pitcher Mike Bovee. Davis has been a fixture in the heart of the Angel lineup for four seasons, averaging 25 homers and 94 RBIs. He was the Angels’ most consistent offensive player in 1996, batting .292 with 28 homers and 95 RBIs, but his $3.8-million salary was putting a strain on the team’s budget.

Hot Streak: Woods, who finished 60th, 11th, tied for fifth and tied for third in his first four professional tournaments, won his fifth by beating Davis Love III in a playoff at the Las Vegas Invitational. Two weeks later he won again and qualified for the Tour Championship.

Dubious Achievement: Orange County’s only NCAA football school, Division III Chapman University, won its first five games by an average margin of 36 points. But the Panthers’ good fortune abruptly ended when it was discovered their star running back, Darnell Morgan, was playing a fifth season of college football. Chapman later discovered another player ineligible for the same reason and voluntarily forfeited the five victories.

NOVEMBER

Big News: One month after he was fired by the Houston Astros, Terry Collins signed a three-year contract to manage the Angels, becoming the franchise’s 17th manager in 37 years. Hot Streaks: Justin Vedder predicted the Saddleback College football team would have a perfect 1996 and he made sure it happened with a 335-yard, four-touchdown performance in a 37-28 victory over Sacramento in the Capitol Shrine Bowl.

DECEMBER

Big News: Hoping to gain power at the plate and experience that comes with winning, the Angels signed 40-year-old free agent Eddie Murray to a one-year contract.

Hot Streaks: The Mater Dei and Aliso Niguel football teams completed 14-0 seasons with victories in Southern Section championship games.

Dubious Achievement: The John R. Wooden Classic, playing without UCLA for the first time in its three-year history, drew only 8,463 to the Pond.

Talk of the Town

Here’s what they were saying in 1996, a year in which there was a lot to be said:

“I don’t know right now. I just know one thing. I’m going to celebrate like hell tonight.”--Tiger Woods after winning the U.S. Amateur and being asked when he’s turning pro

“I know I’ll continue to enjoy seeing Fullerton be successful. I have great respect for the Fullerton players. They’ll keep going to the College World Series. I just hope we’ll be able to beat them there.” --Augie Garrido after stepping down as Cal State Fullerton baseball coach to take the job at Texas

“His courage through this whole thing . . . [was] just amazing. So many times I would ask him how he was doing, and we’d always wind up talking about my family. He [was] a wizard at taking the focus off himself. The tragedy in this is for all those around him.”--Larry Carlson, Costa Mesa High assistant principal, after Jason Ferguson, boys’ basketball coach, died of cancer at 24

“I can’t hate any of my competitors; I’ve seen them all on fire.”--John Force, funny car driver, from Yorba Linda

“I didn’t want to fall into the pool.”--Amanda Beard laughing after she slipped on the blocks during the 100-meter Olympic breaststroke final; she won silver medal

“Ten years as a distance swimmer, I’m kind of amazed by it myself. I have no complaints and I’m leaving with a smile. I’ll never forget the way people called out to me: ‘Janet! Don’t ever forget what you’ve done!’ Or even just: ‘We love you, Janet!’ I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”--Janet Evans after finishing sixth in the 800-meter freestyle, her final Olympic event

“No matter what it is, I don’t like to lose. I’m very competitive, to put it lightly. If I had just been given a 10% chance, I think I would live just to prove those doctors wrong.”--Molli Mullen, Newport Harbor girls’ basketball player, on being told she has an 80% chance of surviving her cancer

“I always told them, ‘No, I’m a lame duck.’ “--Then-Angel President Richard Brown on being asked, “So, are you now a Mighty Duck?” after news of Disney buying the Angels. Disney dismissed Brown in May after the deal was completed

“I’m sure we’ve exercised the limits of Jackie Autry’s patience and the patience of her employees--I wouldn’t want to come to work every day wondering if I have a job. Unfortunately, they’re the victims of circumstances. They’ll have another 60 days of this, and I know it’s unfair, but that’s the way it is.”--Disney Sports Enterprises President Tony Tavares on the company’s stance that the deal to buy the Angels would be contingent on an agreement over stadium renovations

“I’ve come to realize that Anaheim wants football more than baseball.”--Angels owner Jackie Autry, angry that the city’s negotiations with Disney over stadium renovations broke down

“It should look really nice. And when they take all the people who sit out there now--all three of them--and move them over, it will make the crowds look bigger.”--Then-Angel Chili Davis on proposed Big A renovations

“Listen, if there’s a sport that’s slow at times, it’s baseball. We hopefully, in a tasteful way, can increase the entertainment value.”--Tavares on Disney and the Angels

“This team has too many players who look like they came from Newport Beach, where their daddies and mommies gave them everything they ever wanted.”--Tavares taking Angel players to task

“Playing here is like playing in a country club. I almost wish this team played in New York, because when you play bad there, they let you know how bad.”--Angel infielder Randy Velarde

“It’s my job to motivate this team, but right now that’s a zero. . . . I can’t do this much longer. I can’t sit here and watch this. I don’t know how [the players] can sit and watch this.”--Marcel Lachemann, then-Angel manager, after a 13-5 loss to Detroit Aug. 1

“Sometimes I think the cops are going to come and arrest the whole team for loitering . . . and we’d need some high-priced lawyers to get us out of that one.”--Pitcher Chuck Finley after an ugly 9-2 loss in Toronto Aug. 2

“I don’t know what would take more courage right now, quitting or staying out there.”--Pitcher Jim Abbott after an 18-3 loss to Kansas City Aug. 10 dropped him to 1-15

“If you don’t see me tomorrow it’s not because I jumped out of a hotel window, it’s because I have to see a doctor.”--John McNamara, then-Angel interim manager, after a 17-6 loss to New York Aug. 20

“Parents aren’t supposed to bury their children. In November I said, ‘I can’t do this. How am I going to bury my child?’ If something happens to her, I don’t know how I would handle it. I keep telling My Friend Upstairs, ‘She’s a great kid, give her more time.’ “--Rod Carew talking about his 18-year-old daughter Michelle’s battle with leukemia

“I like making people smile, and I’ll continue to do that. I don’t think there’s a day that goes by when I don’t smile. Even when I cry, I smile.”--Michelle Carew, who died 1 1/2 months later

“As much as you try not to think about it, it’s always there. I miss her. I miss having her around. I miss the way she answered the phone when I called home.”--Carew discussing problems coping with Michelle’s death, which caused him to consider quitting as Angel batting instructor