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Los Angeles Angels Team Formation
The Angels and their fellow expansionists, the new Washington Senators now the Texas Rangers chose players from other American League teams in an expansion draft. In 1961, the first year of the team’s existence, the Angels finished 70–91 for a .435 winning percentage, still the highest winning percentage ever for a first-year major league expansion team.
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The team renamed: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
On January 3, 2005 Angels Baseball, L.P. announced that it would change the name of the club from Anaheim Angels to Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The new name sparked outrage among Anaheim and Los Angeles city leaders, who argued that a team that does not play its home games within the city or county of Los Angeles should not claim to be from Los Angeles, even though the Los Angeles Rams played many years in Anaheim without incident. They also regarded the name a lingual farce, as the English “The Angels” was mixed with the Spanish “Los Angeles,” especially in a region where Spanish is so heavily used. With the support of the city of Los Angeles, The Walt Disney Company, and every city in Orange County, the city of Anaheim sued the Angels, claiming the team violated its lease with the city. The team countered that they were in full compliance with the lease, since the lease only stipulated that the team name contain “Anaheim”, and the new name was well within the bounds of this stipulation. A jury trial, which concluded February 9, 2006 resulted in a verdict siding with the Angels and allowing the team to keep the new name.
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The Angels have played home games at Angel Stadium of Anaheim since 1966. The “Angels” name was continued by team owner Gene Autry out of tribute for the Los Angeles Angels, a Minor League franchise in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), which played in South Central Los Angeles from 1903 to 1957. The current Major League franchise was established as an expansion team in 1961 by Autry, the team’s first owner, who bought the rights to the Angels name from Walter O’Malley, the former Los Angeles Dodgers owner, who acquired the PCL franchise from Philip K. Wrigley, the owner of the Chicago Cubs at the time.
Established
1961
City
Los Angeles – Anaheim – Los Angeles (Anaheim)
League History
2000 – Present / Major League Baseball
1961 – 1999 / American League
Team History
2005 – Present / Los Angeles Angels
1997 – 2004 / Anaheim Angels
1965 – 1996 / California Angels
1961 – 1964 / Los Angeles Angels
Nickname
Angels – The “Los Angeles Angels” name originates from the first Los Angeles based sports team, the Los Angeles Angels, who took the name “Angels” from the English translation of “Los Angeles,” which means “The Angels” in Spanish.
Championship
World Series 0
2002
Stadium
2004 – Present / Angel Stadium of Anaheim
1998 – 2003 / Edison International Field
1965 – 1997 / Anaheim Stadium
*Los Angeles*
1962 – 1964 / Chavez Ravine
1961 / Wrigley Field
Owner
2003 – Present / Arturo Moreno
1996 – 2003 / The Walt Disney Company
1961 – 1996 / Gene Autry
Retired Number
11 Jim Fregosi
26 Gene Autry
29 Rod Carew
30 Nolan Ryan
42 Jackie Robinson
50 Jimmy Reese
*Blue is this team’s history
