Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

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. In 2009 they were AL Western Division champions for the third straight season.

Franchise history

An expansion franchise, the club was founded in Los Angeles in [[ in baseball|]] as the Los Angeles Angels, and played their home games at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field (not to be confused with Chicago's stadium of the same name), which had formerly been the home of the minor-league Los Angeles Angels. The team then moved in [[ in baseball|]] to newly built Dodger Stadium, which the Angels referred to as Chavez Ravine, where they were tenants of the Los Angeles Dodgers through [[ in baseball|]]. The team was founded, and owned for its first 36 years, by entertainer Gene Autry. During Autry's ownership, the team was often competitive, making the playoffs three times but never winning the pennant. The Angels were denied a World Series berth in particularly heartbreaking fashion in 1986.

The team has gone through several name changes in their history, first changing their name to the California Angels on September 2, 1965 with a month still left of the season, in recognition of their upcoming move to the newly constructed Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim at the start of the 1966 season.^[1] 31 of the team's 50 seasons have been under the California Angels name. When The Walt Disney Company took control of the team in [[ in baseball|]], it extensively renovated Anaheim Stadium, which was then re-named Edison International Field of Anaheim. The City of Anaheim contributed $30 million to the $118 million renovation with a renegotiated lease providing that the names of both the stadium and team contain the word "Anaheim".^[2] The team was renamed the Anaheim Angels and became a subsidiary of Disney Sports, Inc. (later renamed Anaheim Sports, Inc.). Under Disney's ownership and the leadership of manager Mike Scioscia, the Angels finally won their first pennant and World Championship (their only one of each, to date) in 2002.

In [[ in baseball|]], new owner Arte Moreno added "Los Angeles" to 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 the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Hotly disputed when initially announced, the change was eventually upheld in court and the city finally dropped its four-year legal battle in 2009. The team usually refers to itself as the Angels or Angels Baseball in its home media market, and the words "Los Angeles" and "LAA" do not appear in the stadium, on the Angels' uniforms, or on official team merchandise. Local media in Southern California tend to omit a geographic identifier and refer to the team as the Angels or as the Halos. The Associated Press, the most prominent news service in the U.S., refers to the team as the Los Angeles Angels, the Angels, or Los Angeles.^[3]

The Angels have made the playoffs 4 of the 5 years of Moreno's ownership, but have never returned to the World Series during that time.

Game Traditions

Each game begins with the song "Calling All Angels" by Train being played on the P.A. If the Angels are losing or the game is tied during the 7th inning the Rally Monkey makes an appearance on the scoreboard, appearing in various movies that have been edited to include him. Every Friday is Big Bang Friday which is a fireworks display following every Friday home game.

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 1966, 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.

It was in 1965, while the stadium was being finished, that Bud Furillo (of the Herald Examiner) coined its nickname, "the Big A" after the tall letter A that once stood beyond left-center field and served as the arena's primary scoreboard (it was later relocated to a section of the parking lot, south-east of the stadium).

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."