Angel Stadium
Gene Autry attended the Major League Owners’ meeting in St. Louis in 1960 in hopes of winning broadcasting rights for the new California expansion team and returned home as the owner of the Los Angeles Angels. The team played its first year at Wrigley Field (yes, in Los Angeles) and the next five at the new Dodger Stadium. Unfavorable lease terms led Autry to look first to Long Beach as a new stadium site, but the City stipulated that the team would need to change its name to the Long Beach Angels. Anaheim was more accommodating and the team played its first game in the new Anaheim Stadium on April 19, 1966. They won. The 230-foot-tall “Big A” now at the south edge of the parking lot originally held the scoreboard beyond left field. The stadium underwent major construction in 1979-80 and the 1990s, but has changed little since. It is now the second oldest ballpark in the American League and fourth oldest in baseball.
Click here for a wide view of the stadium and the Big A.
Anaheim, Orange County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt