Angels History

With Mo Vaughn missing the entire season, the Angels performance became sluggish in the 2001 season. The Angels started the 2002 season their famed halo logo printed on their jerseys. In a tight competition for the AL West and Wild Card, the Angels finished the season with a franchise best 99-63 record, and captured the wild card berth. In the playoffs the Angels faced the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins in the ALCS and advanced to their first World Series in franchise history. They played against the San Francisco Giants in the World Series and swept the Giants by 4-1 to capture their first ever World Championship. In 2003, Donald sold the Angels to Arte Moreno for $184 Million. With this acquisition the Angels became the first in professional sports team to have Hispanic Ownership. In 2004, Vladimir Guerrero became the team’s new superstar.

He became AL MVP with 39 homers, 126 RBI and a .337 average. However, in ALDS, the team was unable to retain its prominence in front of Boston Red Sox. 2005 season was the season of changes for the team. Along with the roster the name of the club was changed from the Anaheim Angels to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have never earned the recognition of being the most successful baseball teams by any means. On the contrary they have choked in the playoffs numerous times, and have been a part of several late season collapses. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim previously know as California Angels are based in Anaheim, California and are placed in the Western Division of the American League. Informally referred to as the Halos, the team was founded in 1961 when American League campaigned to place an expansion team in Los Angeles. Gene Autry's film career started in the mid-fifties. He was also singer, actor and owner of a number of radio and TV stations on the West Coast of the United States. He crusaded to win the broadcasting rights for the new team’s games in St. Louis in 1960. During that time two bids had already failed to trade the new team. It was suggested to Autry to acquire the team, to which Autry readily agreed. He paid Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley $300,000 name the team Angels.

The Angels in their inaugural season played at the Wrigley Field and finished eighth in their league. The following season, the team started playing its home games in Chavez Ravine also known as the Dodger Stadium. They finished the season with a disappointing 70-91 record. In 1963, the team’s pitching staff was led by rookie pitcher Dean Chance. He dominated the American League by his hard fastball, and a tendency not to look at home plate after receiving the catcher's sign. He won the Cy Young in 1964 for assisting his team to finish over .500 with an 82-80 5th place record. The Angels to carve out their independent identity renamed themselves the California Angels and moved to Anaheim in 1965. In 1966, it became problematic for the Angels to share a stadium with the Dodgers. So construction of a new stadium started in the nearby community of Anaheim in the heart of Orange County. In the meantime, Chance was traded to Minnesota complained about a lack of support from his colleagues. In 1970, the Angels finished at the second division and stayed there for most of the decade. In 1972 the Angels signed right-handed pitcher Nolan Ryan from the New York Mets and traded Fregosi. He became one of baseball's most remarkable pitchers and in his eight seasons with the Angels surpassed all records for strikeouts and no-hit games. In 1978, Fregosi returned as the team's manager and helped the team won their first American League West Division championship in 1979 finishing the season three games ahead of the Kansas City Royals. Baylor became the first designated hitter to be named the AL most valuable player (MVP).

The following season, the team rolled back down into the division. Superstar outfielder and designated hitter Reggie Jackson was signed by the Angels in 1982. He helped the Angels to come back from a 0-2 loss to win in a best-of-five series and clinch first place in the AL West Division. In 1986, the Angels their third division crown with a team featuring veterans Jackson, third baseman Doug DeCinces, pitcher Don Sutton, and rookie first baseman Wally Joyner but lost the AL Championship Series, to the Boston Red Sox. In the late 1990s, the team acquired several talented players such as Darrin Erstad, Jim Edmonds, Tim Salom, and Garrett Anderson. With these best outfielders, manager Marcel Lachemann the team won 15 games. The Angels led the division for most of the year, collapsed during the final week of the season to finish in a tie with the Seattle Mariners for the A.L. West Division championship. Autry sold the Angels to Disney in 1996. He took the team to his native city, where the team adopted the name Anaheim Angels. Terry Collins was hired as manager for the 1997 season. He led the team to a second-place finish in the AL West. On May 12, 1997, against the Chicago Cubs the Angels duplicated their own record during the seventh (7th) inning. Signing of Mo Vaughn in 1999 was considered to be a big explosion, but it never happened.