LOYALTIES EVENLY SPLIT AT L.A. BASEBALL RIVALRY'S EPICENTER.Byline: STEVE DILBECK NORWALK - This is the dividing line Noun 1. dividing line - a conceptual separation or distinction; "there is a narrow line between sanity and insanity" demarcation, contrast, line differentiation, distinction - a discrimination between things as different and distinct; "it is necessary to . The unassuming center point for major-league baseball in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . Ground zero for the Dodgers-Angels rivalry. Head 15 miles north up Interstate 5, and you're at Elysian Park Elysian Park can mean:
North or south, Dodgers or Angels, Los Angeles or Los Angeles? Almost fittingly, this quiet suburban community appears evenly split in its loyalty. ``It's kind of divided,'' said John Hackney, interim CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of the Norwalk Chamber of Commerce. ``I see Angels and Dodgers bumper stickers and jackets and caps. I think we are literally midway between.'' Norwalk is in Los Angeles County but only a few miles up the freeway from Orange County's Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a brand name of two separate entities: a theme park in Buena Park, California, and a manufacturer of food specialty products (primarily jams and preserves) based in Placentia, California. . It's both yin and yang Yin and Yang Noun two complementary principles of Chinese philosophy: Yin is negative, dark, and feminine, Yang is positive, bright, and masculine [Chinese yin dark + yang bright] , both Dodger blue and Angel red. Kids in the Southwest Norwalk Little League and their parents are seemingly equal in their professional baseball admiration. This weekend the Los Angeles Dodgers "Dodgers" and "Brooklyn Dodgers" redirect here. For the American football team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (football). For the Eastern Basketball Association team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (basketball). will play host to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim For the pre-1958 Pacific Coast League team, see . The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. , and in few places will a city be as split in its following as Norwalk. ``I think it's 50-50,'' said Danny Ortiz, manager of the Minor-A Astros. ``There are a lot of Angel fans and a lot of Dodger fans. ``Personally, I'm a Yankee fan.'' It's not unusual for households to have fans of both teams. Justin Samaniega, 9, said he cheers for the Angels despite ribbing from family that predominantly roots for the Dodgers. ``They call me a traitor,'' Samaniega said. ``I don't care.'' Frank Brava bra·va interj. Used to express approval of a woman, especially for a performance. n. A shout or cry of "brava." [Italian, feminine of bravo, bravo; see bravo1.] , manager of the Minor-A Giants, said he was raised in Los Angeles and grew up a Dodgers fan. ``I've always been a Dodger fan,'' Brava said. ``But my son is an Angel fan. ``He was a Dodger fan. All of a sudden it's Angels, Angels, Angels, Angels. I have no idea why.'' Frank Jr. said it was just one of those cosmic baseball things. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. ,'' Frank Jr. said. ``I just started watching, and they started winning.'' In Norwalk the motto is ``Proud of our past, confident of our future.'' It has a population of a little more than 100,000. Hackney said it is about 70 percent Hispanic. Low- to medium-income, hardworking people. The city is not known for anything in particular. It has a county courthouse. Three freeways crisscross through it. But you could zip by on one of the freeways and, like much of Southern California's suburban sprawl, not realize Norwalk was even there. Not recognize it as the dividing line for Dodgers and Angels fans. To the north, fans root for Eric Gagne; to the south, for Vladimir Guerrero. But in Norwalk, it's baseball civil war. As Frank McCourt and Arte Moreno do battle to win over the hearts of local baseball fans, they might as well as arm wrestle in downtown Norwalk. That is, if Norwalk had a real downtown. Here it did not go unnoticed that Moreno had dumped the ``Anaheim'' part of the Angels' name in favor of his new geographically challenged moniker (1) A name, title or alias. See alias. (2) A COM object that is used to create instances of other objects. Monikers save programmers time when coding various types of COM-based functions such as linking one document to another (OLE). See COM and OLE. . ``There is an awful lot of controversy in this city about renaming them the Los Angeles Angels,'' Hackney said. ``A lot of people don't like that. They think it should stay Anaheim.'' ``I don't think much of it,'' said Daniel Armenta, 26. ``They're just trying to make more money.'' Armenta is a Dodgers fan, said he goes to about 10 games a season but seldom heads south on I-5. ``They have a bunch of old people there,'' he said. ``I go if I get free tickets.'' Frank Brava Jr., the 9-year-old Angels fan, struggled with the name change. ``It doesn't make sense,'' he said. Asked Ortiz: ``What county do they play in?'' Angels fan Juan Cruz, 10, applied the simple logic of a child. Or is it just logic? ``I really don't care, because it's going to be the same players anyway,'' he said. Players who have a loyal following in Norwalk, regardless of the team colors or name. Jim Grable is 70 and helps maintain the Southwest Norwalk Little League fields. He'll watch tonight's series opener with a different perspective. ``I like both teams,'' he said. ``I just like baseball.'' |
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