ANAHEIM, Calif. — The rats at Angel Stadium seem to be under control.

A year ago, an investigation by The Orange County Register revealed more than a hundred major and minor vermin-related violations at the ballpark from 2005 to 2007.

Now it's been 11 months since inspectors last issued a major vermin violation at the stadium.

"Our program is in place and we're very satisfied with our maintenance," said Tim Mead, Angels vice president of communications. "Is the issue behind us? Yes. Absolutely. But that doesn't mean we stop looking for ways to better our systems, better our programs."

Before the newspaper's investigation, cleaning crews wouldn't start removing leftover food and garbage from stands until the morning after the game. Sticky trash would lay around for hours, providing a feast for rats and cockroaches.

Now, timely post-game cleanups, rodent traps and a gray cat known as Angel Eyes are helping keep the rat population at bay.

"Obviously, there were some issues that they had to deal with," said Richard Sanchez, the director of environmental health for the Orange County Health Care Agency. "If the question is: Have we seen improvement? Yes, we have."

Since January, stadium food stands have racked up 152 health code violations, all but two of them minor. In the same time period last year, inspectors wrote up more than 400 violations.