60 Fun Facts About Los Angeles Angels

Which entertainer founded the Angels in 1961?

Gene Autry, Hollywood's Singing Cowboy, was negotiating for the new team's radio rights when the first bidder dropped out, and he ended up owning the club instead.

The newly formed Angels agreed to pay $350,000 to which rival owner before their first season in 1961?

Walter O'Malley had moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles three years earlier; he took $350,000 from the newcomers and then made them rent his new ballpark.

In their first season, 1961, the Angels played home games at which Los Angeles ballpark?

Wrigley Field in Los Angeles opened in 1925 and had the name first: the Cubs' Chicago ballpark was still called Cubs Park and was not renamed until 1926.

From 1962 to 1965 the Angels rented Dodger Stadium, but insisted on referring to it as what?

Chavez Ravine is the canyon the ballpark sits in; the Angels were unhappy tenants on a costly lease there, drew small crowds in the Dodgers' shadow, and left for Anaheim after four seasons.

The Los Angeles Angels took which new name in September 1965, ahead of leaving the city?

California Angels became the name on September 2, 1965, and it lasted until Anaheim agreed in 1996 to help pay for rebuilding the ballpark on condition that the city's own name went on the team.

Which rookie pitcher started and won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series for the Angels?

John Lackey had started 2002 in the minor leagues and was not called up until late June, yet four months later he won the deciding game 4-1.

Which owner added 'Los Angeles' back to the team's name in 2005?

Arte Moreno wanted to sell the team to the whole Los Angeles market, but the stadium lease required Anaheim in the name, so it became the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; the city sued and lost.

Along with the Angels, which team was created in the 1961 American League expansion?

The Washington Senators of 1961 were a replacement team: the original Senators had just left to become the Minnesota Twins, and the new club moved too, becoming the Texas Rangers in 1972.

Nolan Ryan came to the Angels in a December 1971 trade that sent which shortstop to the Mets?

Jim Fregosi, a six-time All-Star, struggled with injuries in New York and was sold to Texas in 1973, while Ryan became a star; Fregosi later came back as Ryan's manager with the Angels.

Whose single-season strikeout record did the Angels' Nolan Ryan break by one in 1973?

Sandy Koufax's 382 fell in Ryan's last start of 1973: level with it after eight innings, he pitched on into the 11th before striking out Minnesota's Rich Reese for number 383.

Which Hall of Famer collected his 3,000th hit as an Angel in 1985?

Rod Carew singled off Frank Viola of the Minnesota Twins, the club where he had won all seven of his batting titles, on August 4, 1985, in what proved to be his final season.

Which slugger hit his 500th career home run as an Angel in 1984?

Reggie Jackson reached 500 at Anaheim Stadium on September 17, 1984; four years later he played himself in 'The Naked Gun', as an Angels outfielder hypnotised into trying to shoot the Queen.

The Angels were one strike from the 1986 World Series before losing the pennant to which team?

Red Sox outfielder Dave Henderson homered with two strikes in the ninth inning of Game 5; Boston won that game in 11 innings, then took the next two to reach the World Series.

Which manager led the Angels to their 2002 World Series title?

Mike Scioscia spent his whole 13-year playing career as a Dodgers catcher, then crossed town to manage the Angels for 19 seasons, from 2000 to 2018.

The Angels beat which team in the 2002 World Series?

San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds hit four home runs and was walked 13 times, yet his team lost in seven games in the first World Series played between two wild-card teams.

Who was named MVP of the 2002 World Series?

Troy Glaus hit .385 with three home runs and eight RBIs in the Series, and his two-run double in the eighth inning of Game 6 put the Angels ahead to complete a comeback from 5-0 down.

Whose three-run homer in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series began the Angels' comeback from 5-0 down?

Scott Spiezio fouled off pitch after pitch before lifting a three-run homer that just cleared the right-field wall in the seventh inning; the Angels scored three more in the eighth to win 6-5.

Which player was the Angels' only All-Star in their 2002 championship season?

Garret Anderson went as a reserve, the lone pick from a team that won 99 games, and three months later his three-run double decided Game 7 of the World Series.

The Rally Monkey was born in 2000 when the scoreboard showed a clip from which film?

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective supplied the monkey clip, flashed up with the words 'Rally Monkey' in June 2000; the Angels came back to win, and to avoid copyright trouble the club then hired a monkey from 'Friends'.

Which 1992 hip-hop hit plays whenever the Rally Monkey appears on the Angel Stadium scoreboard?

Jump Around, by House of Pain, plays as the monkey bounces on screen late in games when the Angels are tied or behind; the routine won national fame during the 2002 World Series run.

What did Tim Salmon wave at the sky after the 2002 World Series win to honour the club's late founder?

A white Stetson hat was the founder's trademark, and Salmon ran out of the dugout with one of his because the owner had died four years earlier, never having seen the club win a pennant.

Why did the Angels retire No. 26 for their founding owner?

He was the team's '26th man': rosters held 25 players at the time, so the club retired the next number for an owner who never played an inning but often travelled with his team.

Which two-sport star, later an Angel, led off the 1989 All-Star Game at Anaheim Stadium with a home run?

Bo Jackson, then also an NFL running back, was named the game's MVP while former president Ronald Reagan sat in the broadcast booth; he played his final season in the same ballpark as an Angel in 1994.

Which pitcher, born without a right hand, joined the Angels' rotation in 1989 without pitching in the minor leagues?

Jim Abbott had won Olympic gold in Seoul the year before; he rested his glove on his right forearm as he threw, then slipped his left hand into it in time to field, and won 12 games as a rookie.

The fake mountain with a waterfall and fireworks beyond Angel Stadium's outfield fence is called what?

The California Spectacular arrived with Disney's late-1990s rebuild of the ballpark, which is why the rock pile, with its geysers and stream, looks like a theme-park ride; it fires off when an Angel homers.

Which NFL team shared Anaheim Stadium with the Angels from 1980 to 1994?

Los Angeles Rams left the ageing Coliseum for Anaheim in 1980, and enclosing the ballpark for football pushed its giant scoreboard out to the parking lot; the team left for St. Louis after 1994.

'Calling All Angels', the anthem played before Angels home games, is a hit by which band?

Train's singer Pat Monahan is a fan of the club the Angels beat in the 2002 World Series, yet his song became their anthem, played over a video of the team's history before every home game.

Which noisemaker did the Angels introduce to Major League Baseball in 2002 and make famous in that year's World Series?

Thundersticks, pairs of long balloons banged together, began with baseball crowds in South Korea; the Angels handed them out from July 2002, and their World Series run that autumn made them a fixture across sport.

Which pitcher threw a perfect game for the Angels against Texas in 1984?

Mike Witt did it on the final day of the 1984 season, with both teams out of the race, and had no margin for error: the only run of the game scored on a fielder's choice in the seventh inning.

Which Angels pitcher threw the first no-hitter in Dodger Stadium history, in May 1962?

Bo Belinsky was a rookie making only his fourth big-league start when he no-hit Baltimore, and overnight he became the toast of Hollywood, soon better known for dating film stars than for his pitching.

The Angels-Dodgers interleague rivalry is known as what?

The Freeway Series began as a pre-season exhibition, a warm-up before opening day: the clubs did not meet in a game that counted until interleague play began in 1997.

Who became the first player to enter the Hall of Fame wearing an Angels cap, in 2018?

Vladimir Guerrero spent eight seasons in Montreal against six in Anaheim, but chose the Angels cap for his plaque, saying the chance to win and the playoff memories there decided it.

Who beat rookie Mike Trout to the 2012 AL MVP award?

Miguel Cabrera had just won the first Triple Crown since 1967, so the unanimous Rookie of the Year had to settle for second; Trout was runner-up to him again in 2013 before winning the award in 2014.

Mike Trout grew up in which small New Jersey town?

Millville Senior High's star lasted until the 25th pick of the 2009 draft, behind 24 other players, before the Angels took him; three years later he was the unanimous AL Rookie of the Year.

Shohei Ohtani came to the Angels from which Japanese club after the 2017 season?

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters drafted him in 2012 even though he had insisted he would go straight to the American majors, then talked him into signing; he won the 2016 Japan Series with them before leaving.

Which operation kept Shohei Ohtani off the mound for the Angels in 2019?

Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow followed his 2018 Rookie of the Year season, but he could still bat, so he spent 2019 as the Angels' designated hitter and did not pitch again until 2020.

Which slugger fell into a dugout chasing a pop-up in his first game as an Angel?

Mo Vaughn had just signed as a free agent when he tumbled into the visitors' dugout after a foul pop and wrenched his ankle; he hit over 30 home runs that year and the next, then missed all of 2001 and was traded away.

Which slugger signed a 10-year free-agent contract with the Angels in December 2011?

Albert Pujols left the St. Louis Cardinals after 11 seasons and two World Series titles; as an Angel he hit his 500th and 600th home runs but won no playoff games, his only October series ending in a sweep.

The Angels had baseball's best record in 2014 but were swept in the Division Series by which team?

Royals teams had not reached the playoffs since 1985, yet this one won the first two games in extra innings in Anaheim and finished the sweep at home on its way to the World Series.

The Angels' 2022 City Connect uniform, in sand and red, drew on which part of SoCal culture?

Surfing and the beach were chosen because, the club said, few things mean a Southern California summer more than days at the beach and nights at the ballpark; even the number font copies lifeguard towers.

Under Disney the Angels briefly wore uniforms in dark blue and which unusual second colour?

Periwinkle and navy came in when Disney's consumer-products arm redesigned the club in 1997, winged 'A' and all; the Angels dropped the look for red in 2002 and won the World Series that same year.

The Angels scored a franchise-record 25 runs, 13 of them in one inning, against which team in June 2023?

Rockies pitchers gave up 13 runs in the third inning at Coors Field on the way to a 25-1 defeat, yet the Angels lost the other two games of that weekend series.

Which Angels closer set the major-league record with 62 saves in 2008?

Francisco Rodríguez, known as K-Rod, passed a record of 57 that Bobby Thigpen had held since 1990, then left that winter for the New York Mets.

The 1994 Disney film 'Angels in the Outfield' starred which actor as the angel Al?

Christopher Lloyd's band of angels comes to the aid of a hapless Angels team; in the 1951 original the heavenly help had gone to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In The Naked Gun (1988), Frank Drebin poses as an umpire at an Angels game against which team?

Seattle Mariners were not the film-makers' choice: they asked for the Milwaukee Brewers and baseball gave them Seattle, and the 'Angels' game was shot at Dodger Stadium, whose own team refused to appear.

Which Angels outfielder had been the punter on Nebraska's 1994 national championship football team?

Darin Erstad punted for the Cornhuskers, became the first pick of the 1995 baseball draft a few months later, and in 2000 led the American League with 240 hits.

Which broadcaster called Angels games from 1969 to 1978 and won the 2015 Frick Award?

Dick Enberg signed off every Angels win with 'And the halo shines tonight', a nod to the ring that lit up on top of the stadium's giant scoreboard, before becoming a national voice for NBC and CBS.

In their first home game after Tyler Skaggs died, the Angels threw what?

A no-hitter, shared by Taylor Cole and Félix Peña in a 13-0 win on July 12, 2019, came with every Angel wearing Skaggs's No. 45 jersey, eleven days after the pitcher's sudden death.

An FBI probe involving which official sank Anaheim's 2019 deal to sell Angel Stadium?

The mayor, Harry Sidhu, resigned in May 2022 as the FBI investigated his part in the sale; the city council cancelled the deal, and a year later he agreed to plead guilty to federal charges.

Which Angels slugger broke his leg in 2010 while leaping onto home plate to celebrate a walk-off grand slam?

Kendrys Morales, fifth in the MVP vote the year before, landed awkwardly on the plate on May 29, 2010, and the injury kept him out of the majors for nearly two years.

Which Angels slugger won the 1979 AL MVP award as the club reached its first postseason?

Don Baylor batted cleanup in all 162 games and led the majors in runs and RBIs; he crowded the plate so fearlessly that pitchers hit him 267 times in his career.

In the late 1990s Disney planned to show its Angels and Mighty Ducks on a new cable channel with what name?

ESPN West even had a sign at the ballpark promising 'Coming Fall 1998', but Disney dropped the plan that summer and sold the games to rival Fox on ten-year deals instead.

After Disney's renovation, Anaheim Stadium was renamed for which utility company?

Edison International, the local electricity company, bought the name when the rebuilt ballpark opened in 1998, then used an option to take it off after the 2003 season, when the park became Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Which Angels pitcher won the American League Cy Young Award in 2005?

Bartolo Colón won 21 games and the award, but partly tore his rotator cuff in that October's deciding playoff game against the Yankees and won only once for the Angels the following season.

What nickname did the Angels' stadium take from the giant scoreboard that once stood behind left field?

The Big A was the name sportswriter Bud Furillo gave the park for its 230-foot A-shaped scoreboard; the sign was later moved to the parking lot, where its halo signals each Angels win.

Which late Angels broadcaster popularised the phrase 'Just another Halo victory!'?

Rory Markas. The Angels' play-by-play voice from 2002, he called the final out of that year's World Series win and died suddenly at home in January 2010, aged 54.

Which team beat the Angels in the 1979 ALCS, the club's first postseason series?

Baltimore Orioles. They won three games to one, though a ninth-inning rally in Game 3 gave the Angels their first playoff win; it was the first of only three division titles in the club's first four decades.

Which former pitcher joined Angels television broadcasts as colour commentator in 2007?

Mark Gubicza. The Royals traded him to Anaheim for Chili Davis, but a shoulder injury ended his pitching career after two starts in 1997, so he has spent far longer in the Angels' booth than on their mound.

Which pitcher earned his 300th career win in an Angels uniform in 1986?

Don Sutton. He lost his first three decisions that season and doubters wondered if he would ever get there, but at 41 he sealed it with a three-hit complete game.

Which Angels pitcher's number 34 went unworn from his 2009 death until Noah Syndergaard took it in 2022?

Nick Adenhart. A drunk driver killed the 22-year-old hours after he pitched six shutout innings in his 2009 season debut, and the Angels now name their annual pitcher-of-the-year award for him.