The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city that was their original home, Los Angeles. The Angels have been based in Angel Stadium of Anaheim since 1966.
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Overview
An expansion franchise, the club was founded in Los Angeles in
1961. Then the
Los Angeles Angels
, the team was based at Los Angeles'
Wrigley Field (not to be confused with
Chicago's
stadium of the same name). The team has gone through several name changes in their history, first changing to the
California Angels
in midseason
1965 to emphasize their status as the only AL team in California and in recognition of their planned move from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim the following year. When
The Walt Disney Company took control in 1997, it extensively renovated Angel Stadium on the condition that both the stadium's name and the team's name contain the word "Anaheim." Disney was hoping to capitalize on the proximity of nearby
Disneyland to enhance the tourism in the area, and thus the team became the
Anaheim Angels
.
In
2005, new owner Arte Moreno wanted to include "Los Angeles" in the team's name, in order to better tap into the Los Angeles media market, the second largest in the country. In compliance with the terms of its lease with the city of Anaheim, which required "Anaheim" be a part of the team's name, the team was renamed to
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
. Hotly disputed when initially announced, the change was eventually
upheld in court and the city dropped the suit in 2009, though the team usually refers to itself as simply the
Angels
in its home media market.
Franchise history
Logos and colors
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have used ten different logos and three different color combinations throughout their history. Their first two logos depict a baseball with wings and a halo over a baseball diamond with the letters "L" and "A" over it in different styles. The original team colors were the predominately blue with a red trim. This color scheme would be in effect for most of the franchise's history lasting from 1961-1996.
In 1965, after the club's move to
Anaheim, the team name changed from the "Los Angeles Angels" to the "California Angels," along with the name change, the logo changed as well. During the 31 years of being known as the "California Angels," the team kept the previous color scheme, however, their logo did change six times during this period. The first logo under this name was very similar to the previous "LA" logo, the only difference was instead of an interlocking "LA," there was an interlocking "CA." Directly after this from 1971-1985, the Angels adopted a logo that had the word "Angels" written on an outline of the State of California. Between the years 1971-1972 the "A" was lower-case while from 1973-1985 it was upper-case.
In 1986, the Angels adopted the "big A" on top of a baseball as their new logo, with the shadow of California in the background. After the "big A" was done in 1992, the Angels returned to their roots and re-adopted the interlocking "CA" logo with some differences. The Angels used this logo from 1993-1996, during that time, the "CA" was either on top of a blue circle or with nothing else.
After the renovations of then-Anaheim Stadium and the takeover by the Walt Disney Company, the Angels changed their name to the "Anaheim Angels" along with changing the logo and color scheme. The first logo under Disney removed the halo and had a rather cartoon-like "ANGELS" script with a wing on the "A" over a periwinkle plate and crossed bats. With this change, the Angels's color scheme changed to dark blue and periwinkle. After a run with the "winged" logo from 1997-2001, DIsney changed the Angels's logo back to a "Big A" with a silver logo over a dark blue baseball diamond. WIth this logo change, the colors changed to the team's current color scheme: predominately red with some dark blue and white.
When the team's name changed from the "Anaheim Angels" to the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim," the logo changed only slightly, the name "ANAHEIM ANGELS" and the blue baseball diamond were removed leaving only the "big A."
Vintage logo gallery
Season records
Baseball Hall of Famers
As of the
2009 Hall of Fame election, no inducted members have elected to be depicted wearing an Angels cap on their plaque. However, several Hall of Famers have spent part of their careers with the Angels:
[1]
Ford C. Frick Award recipients
Angels Hall of Fame
The Angels have a team Hall of Fame,
[2] with the following inducted members:
- Don Baylor, inducted 1990
- Rod Carew, inducted 1991
- Jim Fregosi, inducted 1989
- Bobby Grich, inducted 1988
- Nolan Ryan, inducted 1992
- Jimmie Reese, inducted 1995
- Brian Downing, inducted 2009
- Chuck Finley, inducted 2009
Retired numbers
Jim Fregosi SS: 1961-71 Manager: 1978-81 Retired 1998
| Gene Autry Team Founder
Retired 1992
| Rod Carew 1B: 1979-85 Coach: 1992-99 Retired 1991
| Nolan Ryan P: 1972-79
Retired 1992
| Jackie Robinson Retired by Baseball Retired 1997
| Jimmie Reese Coach: 1972-94
Retired 1995
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- #26 was retired for Gene Autry to indicate he was the team's "26th Man" (25 is the player limit for any MLB team's active roster)
- #42 was retired throughout Major League Baseball in 1997 to honor Jackie Robinson
- #50 Jimmie Reese never played for the Angels.
Current roster
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Active roster
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Pitchers
- -- Nick Adenhart
- 66 José Arredondo
- 52 Jason Bulger
- 45 Kelvim Escobar
- 79 Nick Green (pitcher)
- 65 Kevin Jepsen
- 41 John Lackey
- 68 Shane Loux
- 58 Dustin Moseley
- 38 Darren Oliver
- -- Anthony Ortega
- -- Rafael Rodriguez (baseball)
- 54 Ervin Santana
- 51 Joe Saunders
- 62 Scot Shields
- 33 Justin Speier
- 63 Rich Thompson (pitcher, born 1984)
- 36 Jered Weaver
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| Catchers
- 28 Ryan Budde
- 5 Jeff Mathis
- 44 Mike Napoli
- 46 Bobby Wilson (baseball)
Infielders
- 2 Erick Aybar
- 43 Matthew Brown (baseball)
- 9 Chone Figgins
- 6 Maicer Izturis
- 47 Howie Kendrick
- 19 Kendry Morales
- 39 Robb Quinlan
- 18 Sean Rodriguez
- 59 Freddy Sandoval
- -- Mark Trumbo
- 3 Brandon Wood
Outfielders
- 64 Terry Evans
- 27 Vladimir Guerrero
- 48 Torii Hunter
- 24 Gary Matthews, Jr.
- 21 Juan Rivera (baseball)
- 77 Reggie Willits
Designated hitters
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Coaches
- 23 Mike Butcher (pitching)
- 22 Dino Ebel (third base)
- 4 Alfredo Griffin (first base)
- 7 Mickey Hatcher (hitting)
- 88 Orlando Mercado (bullpen)
- 10 Ron Roenicke (bench)
- 61 Steve Soliz (bullpen catcher)
† 15-day disabled list
* Suspended list
# Bereavement list
updated 2008-12-19
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Minor league affiliations
- AAA:
Salt Lake Bees, Pacific Coast League
- AA:
Arkansas Travelers, Texas League
- Advanced A:
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, California League
- A:
Cedar Rapids Kernels, Midwest League
- Rookie:
Tempe Angels, Arizona League
- Rookie:
Orem Owlz, Pioneer League
Radio and television
s of }} 2009
[], the Angels'
flagship radio station is
KLAA 830AM, which is owned by the Angels themselves. It replaces
KSPN (710 ESPN), on which frequency had aired most Angels games since the team's inception in 1961. That station, then KMPC, aired games from
1961 to
1996. In
1997 &
1998, the flagship station became
KRLA (1110AM). In
1999, it was replaced by
KLAC for four seasons, including the
2002 World Series season.
Rory Markas,
Terry Smith, and
Steve Physioc split play-by-play duties. Smith, Physioc and
Rex Hudler call games on radio when Markas and
Mark Gubicza appear on television.
In 2008, KLAA broadcast spring training games on
tape delay from the beginning on February 28 to March 9 because of ironclad advertiser commitments to some daytime
talk shows. Those games were available only online. Live preseason broadcasts were to begin on March 10.
[3]
In 2009,
KFWB 980AM will start broadcasting 110 weekday games including any postseason games. This is being done to enhance the coverage of
KLAA which has a much smaller signal then KFWB.
[4]. All 162 games plus post season games will still air on KLAA.
Angels radio broadcasts are also in
Spanish on
KWKW 1330AM and KWKU 1220AM.
Television rights are held by
FSN West and
MyNetworkTV affiliate
KCOP, with various announcers. Physioc and Hudler call about 100 games, while Markas and Gubicza have the remaining game telecasts (about 50, depending on
ESPN and
Fox exclusive national schedules). The split arrangement dates back to the 2007 season, when
Jose Mota and Gubicza were the second team. Markas debuted on TV in a three-game series at the
Toronto Blue Jays in August 2007. Physioc signed a new contract with the team for 2008, but reportedly he and Hudler are now team employees, not network or station employees. This could be linked to a new assignment Physioc received in late 2007 to call selected college basketball games for
ESPNU, owned by a rival to FSN.
Mota, who is
bilingual and the son of former
Dodger Manny Mota, has also called Angels games in Spanish and at one time did analysis from the
dugout rather than the usual booth position.
All games are produced by FSN regardless of the outlet actually showing the games.
Dick Enberg, who broadcast Angels baseball in the 1970s, is the broadcaster most identified with the Angels, using such phrases as
Oh My!
and
The Halo Shines Tonight
, both phrases he used during the 2002 World Series victory celebration outside of Anaheim Stadium.
Former Angels broadcasters over the past three decades include
Dave Niehaus,
Don Drysdale,
Bob Starr,
Joe Torre,
Paul Olden,
Larry Kahn,
Mario Impemba,
Sparky Anderson,
Jerry Reuss,
Ken Wilson,
Ken Brett, and
Ron Fairly.
Jerry Coleman also spent time with the Angels organization in the early-1970s as a pre-game and post-game host before joining the
San Diego Padres broadcast team.
References
- National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: Home
- Angels Hall of Famers
- From the dugout » Blog Archive » Angels’ spring radio - OCRegister.com
- CBS Radio's KFWB News 980 enhances local programming lineup with addition of Los Angeles Angels broadcasts: mlb.com