When it comes to scoring the hottest tickets in town – Angels postseason games — it helps to have friends at Anaheim City Hall. Council members and top administrators each get six free tickets to regular season home games; four in a luxury box for every playoff game. They can use the seats themselves or hand them out as they please.
In normal years, that’s a valuable perk.
In 2008, with the Angels battling the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs, and a series with the Los Angeles Dodgers likely, those free tickets are like gold.
For Game 1, the face value for one seat was a maximum of $250 and the tickets were selling online for as much as $2,000.
The Angels may have lost Wednesday night, but there was a big local winner: Michael Baker, executive director of the Anaheim Boys and Girls Club, got six tickets from Mayor Curt Pringle and the city. Baker said he used them to take five children to the game, three of whom had never been to a major league stadium.
Pringle himself has been boycotting most Angel games since the team became the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Another noteworthy recipient: Leon Alexander, a local attorney who got two tickets from Councilwoman Lorri Galloway. Alexander’s law firm donated $1,000 in 2007 to Galloway’s campaign.
Galloway said Alexander has done free work for the charity that she heads, the Eli Home for abused children. “He has helped the poor and disadvantaged,” Galloway said.
For now, the ticket perk is perfectly legal, although the state Fair Political Practices Commission is considering new rules that will severely restrict the amount of free tickets that council members and other government officials can take.
After each post-season home game, Watchdogs Tony Saavedra and Sarah Tully will bring you the names of everybody receiving free tickets and their relationship to the city.
Click here to see a listing of all the people who got the freebie tickets for Game 1 between the Angels and Red Sox.
You can follow this blog: on 
Aw those are called perks.
Way to Mr Mayor I agree with you on the boycotting the team is still in Anaheim
Grats to the mayor for helping give some kids a little cheer and a night they’ll probably never forget.
Most of the seats they receive are used to raise money for Boys and Girls Club and dozens upon dozens of non-profits throughout Anaheim. This “perk” benefits many underprivileged!
I agree with the boycot as well. What idiot came up with the idea to call them the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim”? This is Orange County, not that filty piece of trash called LA County. If this doesn’t sound like a stupid “political correctness” scheme, I don’t know what is!
Uh, it has nothing to do with political correctness, Mike. I have no clue why you’d think that.
The Angels were pretty clear in that they thought they could market and merchandise their team better if they had the name of one of the most well-known cities in the world in their title. It doesn’t make it right, but it has nothing to do with PCness.
For better marketing the should of called themselves “The Newer York Angeles of Anaheim”.
Mayor Curt Pringle did the right thing to boycott the angels but he should have let the seats set empty as an example to the rest of the council members that have little or no integrity.
If they had no integrity, then why would they care? At least this way some kids get to have a fun night out that they probably wouldn’t have otherwise (given that they’re in the Boys and Girls club).
Galloway said Alexander has done free work for the charity that she heads, the Eli Home for abused children. “He has helped the poor and disadvantaged,” Galloway said., so she comped the rich and donating to her campaign. What kills me is that these people CAN AFFORD to buy tickets, May they rot!
Maybe can change the name to the Boston Angels of Anaheim. That way they could be marketed coast to coast and get an edge in the playoffs
They got free Angel tickets, BIG DEAL. OC register looking to start crap again, who cares.
Although it’s noteworthy that Mayor Pringle has given away his tickets to charity, it would be a better statement if he simply said “Tickets? Tickets? I don’t need no stinkin’ tickets!” In the end he can then say “I don’t accept bribes in any form.”
What a great example how businesses are still making a difference in the lives of those in their Community.
Should the government restrict the generosity of companies that were sued by the City?
Kudos for Angels management and City Officials for making a difference. Keep up the good work.
How does this really affect my tax dollar? I guess that the Angels will write-off the face value of the tickets on their taxes so I guess it could end up costing us a hundred dollars in lost tax revenues.
Have we reviewed their tax return to see what write-offs they are taking and how much it really means to us a tax payers? Or are we selling headlines again?
Good Lord, are we in high school narking?
Don’t we have better things to do then nark on people?
These people work hard, so what, if they get to enjoy a game.
Have fun at the game! Thanks for taking those kids!
gg
So what that some of the tickets are donated to charity. Am I the only person who sees this as political gain for them? Of course, they are going to publicize (i.e., campaign) when they give the tickets to the games they can’t make to charities. Smells the same as giving them to donors.
Obtaining these tickets from the city is additional compensation to these officials. I would expect them to claim each ticket at face value on their income tax returns. Are you paying attention IRS and BOE officials?
Who cares? My parents met in the 60’s when working at the Register when stuff like this wasn’t even published. My dad never would of wrote about crap like this and he wrote lots of stories for this newspaper.
My dad also got free tickets from this City Council in the early-mid 90’s when no one was attending games . We still had to pay for parking and concessions. Now it looks like the City Council gives them to charities. Great! The years I went to a few games at the suite, the city council hadn’t attended one game by June in 2 of the 3 years.
At least a good charity is using them now. This is more of the lines of a TJ Simers column for another newspaper. How about something more worthwhile next time?
From Mike now in Rio Rancho, New Mexico
I saw this team play at Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles as the Los Angeles Angels, and I’ve seen this team play as the California Angels. the Anaheim Angels and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium, Edison International Field of Anaheim, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim. I have and will continue supporting the Angels as long as they are “The Angels” and play in southern California.
The Angels will not win the big one if they continue to call themselves Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. They have to take out Los Angeles in their name.
Bravo to Mayor Pringle for giving the tickets to needy children!
But RASPBERRIES to Lorri Galloway for giving the tickets to her lawyer who donated a thousand bucks to her campaign! Lorri Galloway and the rest of the two-bit city council members who use these tickets as free money should be ASHAMED of themselves!
Shame on you Lorri Galloway! If your lawyer and big donation wallet wanted to see the game, he should have bought his own tickets like the rest of us!
If you want a complete list of who the city council members give there tickets to call the city clerks office and ask for the list for the past four years. Now don’t forget the city manager also has unlimited use of a box. Lets see who is using his tickets?
Pringle, Kring and Hernandez give most of there ticktes to people in the community or donate them to non profits for fun raisers. Galloway gives them to people who can benefit her or gives to her Charity. SIdhu who knows and does anyone really care?
You people need to stop for a moment and ask, “How did the Angels get into Orange County? While you are asking you might also include the Honda Center and Disneyland and either move to Anaheim or stop complaining. Oh, by the way we pay about 20% less for our electricity also.
Preacher Crow of Anaheim
Mike, you are an idiot. It’s bad enough that your leach parents got free junk, but the fact that you learned nothing from their crimes just makes you a loser, straight up. It’s creeps like your parents and their crooked cohorts that keep people out of the voting booth. Seriously, why should anyone bother voting when everyone with power is a greedy thief? Everyone reading this should feel free to take the law into their own hands in the city of Anaheim, whether it be speeding, stealing, tagging, or whatever else makes you happy. After all, our city leaders get to pick and choose which laws they follow.