The Los Angeles Angels have been around for more than half a century and have spent their entire tenure in the City of Angels. The franchise was founded in 1961 as an expansion club and named the “Angels” in honor of the Pacific Coast League minor league Los Angeles Angels. The club changed its name in 1965 to become the California Angels, and then once more three decades later in 1997 to become the Anaheim Angels. In 2005, the team again rebranded itself as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim before once again becoming the Los Angeles Angels in 2016.
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Angels History
The Angels have played their home ball games at Angel Stadium since it opened in 1966, making it the fourth-oldest active ballpark in the major leagues. “The Big A,” as its colloquially known, most recently hosted the All-Star Game in 2010. The Angels played their first season at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, not to be confused with the home of the Chicago Cubs, and then moved to Chavez Ravine, better known as Dodger Stadium, through the 1965 season.
Pennants
The Halos have won the World Series once in franchise history – a seven-game series against the San Francisco Giants in 2002, which was also the fourth World Series to feature two teams from California. The Angels, led by manager Mike Scioscia, bounced back after being down three games to two, thanks to a five-run seventh inning comeback in Game 6. The 2002 World Series championship remains the only AL Pennant the franchise has won, making it into the postseason with the club’s only Wild Card berth. The club has won the West Division a total of nine times with the most recent division title coming in 2014, when it finished the regular season with the best record in the major leagues, but saw their season come to an early end in a sweep to the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS.
Hall of Famers
One of the more prominent Angels is Rod Carew, the first baseman who played with the California Angels from 1979-1985. Carew was named an All-Star 18 times in his career, which was also shared with the Minnesota Twins. It was also with the Angels when Carew got his 3,000th career hit – coming against his former team, the Twins. Another well-known Angel is Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan, who spent eight years with the Angels from 1972 to 1979. In his first season with Los Angeles, Ryan led the league with 329 strikeouts and recorded a 2.28 ERA, which was the second-lowest season ERA in franchise history.
Fans who are a little younger will remember Vladimir Guerrero, who played for the club from 2004 to 2009. In Guerrero’s first season with the Angels, he won the MVP while scoring 124 runs and reaching 366 total bases while batting .337 on the season.
In more recent years, the Angels have boasted Mike Trout, arguably the best player in baseball over the past few years. Trout won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2012 in his first full season in the majors and has been named an All-Star in every single season he’s played. And with a 12-year, $426 million contract signed in 2019, Trout will still be the face of the Angels for many more years to come.
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