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Angels
Baseball History |
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In 1960, the
American League announced plans to place an expansion team in Los
Angeles, to begin play in 1961. Gene Autry, former actor and owner
of a number of radio and TV stations on the west coast, attended the
Major League Owners’ meeting in St. Louis in 1960 in hopes of
winning broadcasting rights for the new team’s games. After
two different bids to acquire the new American League team failed,
it was suggested to Autry that he acquire the team itself. Autry agreed,
and purchased the franchise, which he named the Los Angeles Angels
after the long-successful Pacific Coast League team. The Anaheim Angels
are a Major League Baseball team based in Anaheim, California. They
are one of four teams that play in the Western Division of the American
League (AL). The team takes its name from its original home—Los
Angeles, The City of Angels. The Angels played their first game on
April 11, 1961, which turned to be a great success. The Angels first
season was played at Wrigley Field (An old Pacific League stadium
located in the suburbs of Los Angeles) in 1961 and then the team played
its home games at Dodger Stadium (1962-1965) until it moved to Anaheim
Stadium in 1966. The Angels made it to the playoffs for the first
time in 1979. They lost to the Orioles in 4 games in the ALCS. The
team has also been known as the Los Angeles Angels (1961-1964), and
California Angels (1965-1996). The Angels Hall of Famers includes
Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton,
Hoyt Wilhelm and Dave Winfield. Hall of Famer outfielder and designated
hitter Reggie Jackson joined the Angels in 1982 and led the league
in home runs to power California to its second division championship.
On May 15, 2003, the Angels became the first major sports team to
be owned by a Hispanic, when the sale of the team from The Walt Disney
Company to Arturo Moreno was approved. During its existence, the team
has called three different stadiums home. During the 1961 inaugural
season, the Angels played at historic Wrigley Field in South Central
Los Angeles, for many years the home field of the Pacific Coast League
Angels. From 1962-1965 the team played at Dodger Stadium as tenants
of the Dodgers, though the Angels always referred to their home field
as Chavez Ravine (the name of the area in which the stadium is located).
In 1966, the Angels left the city of Los Angeles altogether for newly-constructed
Anaheim Stadium, now known as Angel Stadium, where they have played
ever since. The Anaheim Angels retired the following numbers, #29
worn by Rod Carew, #26 belonging to Gene Autry, #30 worn by Nolan
Ryan, #42 belonging to Jackie Brown, #50 worn by Jimmie Reese and
#11 belonging to Jim Fregosi. The Anaheim Angels have won one World
Series Championship (2002), have won one American League Pennant (2002),
have won three Division titles (1979(AL West), 1982(AL West), and
1986(AL West)) and have been a Wild Card in 2002(AL). The Angels uniform
consists of the colors red, white, and navy blue, the logo design
is a red "A" with a halo on top.
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Los Angeles Angels Web Site |
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