THE 1966 CALIFORNIA ANGELS led the American League in attendance (Angels photo).

The Angels don’t need a “new” name, like going back to the cringe-worthy “Anaheim Angels.” They need a new owner – got that – and a new stadium –someday – but most urgently a new, more effective bullpen, as evidenced by Sunday’s late inning collapse in Washington.

The “Home Run for Anaheim Act” was passed by the state Legislature, a group of worthies with evidently having nothing better to do than interfere in the naming of sports franchises.

This new instance of Sacramento tomfoolery doesn’t require that the Angels name their team after the city in which their stadium is located.

But, if they secure an exemption from a state law requiring that development of “surplus land” go – in part – to affordable housing, they will have to use the name “Anaheim Angels” as they did from 1997 to 2004. From 2005 to 2015 they were officially the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.”

There are a lot of moving parts to this. Some have suggested that the act would only require that the name “Anaheim Angels” be used in legal documents and not necessarily for everyday use.

A bigger issue – which people who don’t live in Orange County know – is that folks who live in cities other than Anaheim have long resented that city’s attitude which suggested a superiority complex.

Anaheim is the county’s biggest city (by population) but it will soon be eclipsed by Irvine and represents only a limited part of the county. It’s also useful to point out that a chunk of the Angels’ market is in the Inland Empire, populated in large measure by people who left the OC to find a house they could afford.

So, if Stan Kroenke ends up wanting to rebrand the team, the best choice would be to go back to the name it had when the Halos first came to Orange County – California Angels.

With the A’s bound for Vegas, our guys will again be the only American League team located in the Golden State. It has regional appeal and nostalgic value.

I’ll tell Stan that when I next meet him for lunch …