Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | |||||
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2017 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim season | |||||
Established in 1961 | |||||
Based in Anaheim since 1966 | |||||
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Major league titles | |||||
World Series titles (1) | 2002 | ||||
AL Pennants (1) | 2002 | ||||
West Division titles (9) | |||||
Wild card berths (1) | 2002 | ||||
Front office | |||||
Owner(s) | Arte Moreno | ||||
Manager | Mike Scioscia | ||||
General Manager | Billy Eppler | ||||
President of Baseball Operations | John Carpino |
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are an American professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The Angels have played home games at Angel Stadium of Anaheim since 1966. The "Angels" name was continued by team owner Gene Autry out of tribute for the Los Angeles Angels, a Minor League franchise in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), which played in South Central Los Angeles from 1903 to 1957. The current Major League franchise was established as an expansion team in 1961 by Autry, the team's first owner, who bought the rights to the Angels name from Walter O'Malley, the former Los Angeles Dodgers owner, who acquired the PCL franchise from Philip K. Wrigley, the owner of the Chicago Cubs at the time.
In 2009, the Angels won the AL West division championship for the third straight season. 2013 was the fourth straight year in which the team did not qualify for the postseason, but marked the 11th straight year in which the Angels franchise drew more than 3 million fans in attendance, and made 30 seasons of at least 2 million fans in attendance.
The "Los Angeles Angels" name originates from the first Los Angeles-based sports team, the Los Angeles Angels, who took the name "Angels" from the English translation of "Los Angeles", which means "The Angels" in Spanish. The team name started in 1892; in 1903, the team name continued in L.A. through the PCL, which is now a minor league affiliate of MiLB. The Angels franchise of today was established in MLB in 1961 after former owner Gene Autry bought the rights to continue the franchise name from Walter O'Malley, the former Los Angeles Dodgers owner who had acquired the franchise from Phil Wrigley, the owner of the Chicago Cubs at the time. As stated in the book Under the Halo: The Official History of Angels Baseball, "Autry agreed to buy the franchise name for $350,000, and continue the history of the previously popular Pacific Coast League team as his own expansion team in the MLB." After the Angels joined the Major Leagues, some players from the Angels' PCL team joined the Major League Angels in 1961.