The American League was desperate to plant a franchise in California since the Giants and Dodgers had beaten a path west in 1958.  The league's expansion for 1961 cinched things.  Initially, the L.A. interests were a consortium which included the flamboyant Bill Veeck.  Dodger owner Walter O'Malley blanched at the prospect of competing in the same market against such an unpredictable showman, and invoked a claim on the L.A. region as exclusively his.  A.L. owners tried, but failed, to get the prospective ownership group to drop Veeck, and as a result found themselves looking for new partners.  In stepped the singing cowboy, Gene Autry - here's a link for you kids.  After agreeing to an indemnification fee to O'Malley of $350,000 as well as an agreement to lease Dodger-owned facilities for the team's first 5 seasons, the team was his.  The process of naming the new franchise was simple enough - they adopted the name Angels, after both their home and in honor of the long-time Pacific Coast League team of the same name.   

The Los Angeles Angels played their first season in L.A.'s old Wrigley Field, and then from 1962-1965 shared Dodger Stadium with O'Malley's team.  In 1966, they moved into brand new Anaheim Stadium adjacent to Disneyland, and rechristened themselves the California Angels.  On the field, they found early success, and even competed for the pennant, in just their second season with such young stars as Bo Belinsky, Jim Fregosi and Dean Chance.  It didn't last however, and they spent almost the next 2 decades wandering the MLB desert.  Autry was undeniably a popular and well-loved owner but he wasn't a baseball man, and didn't always hire the best baseball people.  Perhaps the best deal the team made during their first dozen years was when they traded long-time fan favorite but declining performer Jim Fregosi to the Mets for a young, almost unknown fireballer named Nolan Ryan in 1971.  When Ryan was paired with the flashy and dashing Frank Tanana later in the decade, the Angels' fortunes began to improve, culminating with their first division title in 1979.  A period of competitiveness followed - a second division win in 1982 led to a 3rd in 1986, but it produced only heartache.  The Angels led the Red Sox in the 1986 ALCS 3 games to 1, and in game 5 in Anaheim they led by 3 runs going into the Boston half of the 9th.  Despite a 2-run home run by former Angel star Don Baylor, they still led 6-5 with 2 outs and 2 strikes, and police lined the field, ready for an onslaught of jubilant fans.   The details of what happened next are readily available elsewhere; suffice it to say the Angels lost the game and the series and failed to return to the post-season again until 2002 when, mercifully, a different fate awaited and they won their first World Series title.   

The Angels stayed competitive for much of the '00s but suffered post-season defeats to the Red Sox alone 3 separate times, before finally beating them in 2009, only to drop the ALCS to the eventual champion New York Yankees.  The acquisition of Albert Pujols from St. Louis, the rise to stardom of Mike Trout and the arrival of 2-way star Shohei Ohtani didn't produce anything more than a 2014 division title, and with both Pujols and Ohtani now departed, one wonders if Trout will ever get to showcase his talents in October again. 

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On the other hand, the team's naming history has continued to a topic of confusion and conversation.  Originally the Los Angeles Angels, their move to Anahaim in 1966 prompted the change to California Angels.  In 1997, the city contributed $30 million to the renovation of the stadium and negotiated a lease requiring the use of the word "Anaheim" in the team name, so they were re-dubbed the Anaheim Angels.  In 2005, new owner Arte Moreno wanted to add "Los Angeles" back to the name, but because of the agreement with the city, he decided to settle on the ridiculous "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim".  By the '10s, the team was referred to simply as the Angels in general usage, and by 2019, almost all official team and league sources had dropped 'of Anaheim', making Los Angeles Angels the de facto team name.    

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The main purpose of this page is to illustrate those players, managers and coaches who have been the most prominent in the franchise's history.  Links below will take you to galleries highlighting each, by position.  Generally, an individual is included if he spent at least 2 full seasons (consecutive or cumulative) as a starter, relief pitcher, closer or manager. For coaches, I've generally used 5 years of service as the bar.  None of this is scientific, though, so there are exceptions.  Where possible and practical, I used pictures of actual baseball cards because that it is the medium through which I, and I suppose many others, first discovered the game. Where necessary, I designed my own images.  Images of actual baseball cards were obtained at the Card Cyber Museum, and for my own designs I used photos found at host of different sites, but none moreso than the wonderful forum at Out of the Park Developments.  

I claim no rights to, or ownership of, any of the photographic images I've used on these pages.   You are welcome to use them yourself.  All I ask is that that if you use any of my personal creations, you give credit to this site.