'Tarps off' trend reaching Angel Stadium is Arte Moreno's worst nightmare

Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno has long been one of the most reviled owners in all of professional sports. These days, it's getting even tougher for the billboard and real estate magnate. The Angels and their fans have long suffered under Moreno's meddling-heavy version of mismanagement, and now the fanbase has decided that it will no longer suffer in silence.

It might be hard to believe, but at one time, Moreno was seen as a positive force for the Angels and their future. He was the driving reason that Vladimir Guerrero signed with the Halos back in 2004, an offseason that also saw the club land Bartolo Colon, Jose Guillen, and Kelvim Escobar. Colon would go on to win the 2005 AL Cy Young. It was a level of spending that feels like it was from another lifetime.

Now, though, the mercurial owner is under fire. Fans took to the right field bleachers during the May 21 matchup against the rival Athletics to partake in the league's growing "Tarps Off" movement, in which fans gather in an isolated location of the stands and take off their shirts, chanting to express their joy or, as in the case of the Angels, their displeasure.

A choir of disgruntled Angels faithful serenaded the stadium with the refrain, "Sell the team," while obscenities directed straight at Moreno were also common.

Arte Moreno has given plenty of fuel to Angels fans' rage of late

These sentiments aren't new, but rarely have they been expressed so vocally. However, the Angels, and Moreno specifically, have given the fanbase a lot of reasons to be upset lately.

After being outscored by the Los Angeles Dodgers by a score of 31-3 during the three-game set for MLB's Rivalry Weekend, fans were particularly sore. In taking on the Dodgers, Angels fans were forced to confront once again the reality that Moreno botched a trade with their Hollywood rivals, which would have netted them center fielder Andy Pages, who is blossoming into a superstar now in his age-25 season.

Just a few days later, it came to light that Moreno blocked a blockbuster that would have sent Tampa Bay Rays superstar Junior Caminero, plus an enticing group of other prospects, in exchange for Shohei Ohtani.

Moreno stubbornly refused to wave the white flag on the 2023 season with that franchise-altering deal, but also refused to match the Dodgers' offer for Ohtani, losing him for virtually nothing, just mere months later.

No wonder fans are frustrated. The man who, a little over two decades ago, seemed like a leader who would build upon the late-era Disney success and vault the franchise into the next stratosphere has become the biggest villain in Orange County as he's repeatedly driven the club into the ground through a stunning combination of ego, stubbornness, and incompetence.

Maybe if the voices get loud enough over a long enough period of time, the fans can turn up the heat and force a change. One can only hope.

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