Los Angeles Angels

Los Angeles Angels founded in 1961

abbreviation
LAA
earlier names)
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2005-2015) Anaheim Angels (1997-2004) California Angels (1965-1996) Los Angeles Angels (1961-1965)
Nickname (s)
The Halos, Los Halos
Club colors
Red, navy blue, white
league
American League (since 1961) West Division (since 1969)
Ball park (s)
Angel Stadium of Anaheim (since 1966) Chavez Ravine (1962-1965) Wrigley Field (1961)
successes
World Series (1): 2002 American League title (1): 2002 Division title (9): 1979, 1982, 1986, 2004, 2005, 2007–2009, 2014 Wild Card (1): 2002
Website : http://www.laangels.com

The Los Angeles Angels (formerly California Angels , Anaheim Angels, and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ) are a major league baseball team of the American League . The club plays its home games at Angel Stadium in Anaheim .

history

For many years the Los Angeles area had tried to get an American League team to California. As early as 1940, the St. Louis Browns were supposed to head south, but the owners of the other American League teams did not allow the change. The change was to take place in 1942. A game plan with a team in Los Angeles was already in place, but the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 made any major league sport in California impossible. The Browns were in conversation again in 1953, but moved to Baltimore . The Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics were also in discussion, but again nothing specific emerged. In 1957, when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved west , Los Angeles joined its first National League MLB team .

A team in the American League in Los Angeles was only possible when the leagues were expanded to 10 teams each in 1961. The first owner of the team was the country musician Gene Autry , who actually only wanted to acquire the broadcast rights for the new team, but was persuaded to take over the team completely.

Autry named the team Los Angeles Angels , originally the name of a team in the California League in 1892. A team in the Pacific Coast League also went by the name of Los Angeles Angels from 1903 to 1957. This team moved to Spokane . Walter O'Malley , the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers , still owned the naming rights, which Autry bought from him for $ 300,000.

The first year was quite successful for an expansion team , the Angels won 70 games, a record that is still valid today for a newcomer to the league. In their second season they were involved for a long time in the title fight of the American League, on July 4, 1962 they even led the table. At the end of the season, they finished third, 10 games behind the New York Yankees . Bo Belinski threw the first no-hitter in Angels history this season on May 5th . In 1964, pitcher Dean Chance won the Cy Young Award for the Angels.

On September 2, 1965, the team owners announced that the team was now called California Angels because of its move to Anaheim . With the move, the number of viewers increased significantly, there were only just under 570,000 at the games in Los Angeles last year, and in the new home this rose to over 1.4 million.

In 1970, Alex Johnson became the only Angels player to win the American League batting title . Other notable players of the period included Jim Fregosi , Ken McBride , Albie Pearson , Buck Rodgers and Leon Wagner .

Most of the 1970s were only associated with average performance for the Angels. The big exception was the signing of Nolan Ryan , who threw 4 no-hitters for the Angels and broke many other records. In 1979 Ryan had a record of 16 wins and 14 losses. The then General Manager of the Angels, Buzzi Bavasi , allowed Ryan to become a free agent , which Bavasi later described as the biggest mistake of his life. That year the Angels won the American League West for the first time, and Don Baylor was chosen as the MVP of the American League. Against the Baltimore Orioles they lost 1: 3 in the ALCS .

In 1982 Reggie Jackson joined the Angels. With him, the Angels were able to win the AL West again, were already 2-0 in the American League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers , but lost the last three games. In 1986 the Angels were able to celebrate another division title with manager Gene Mauch , Wally Joyner and Chuck Finley played a large part in this. Against the Boston Red Sox , the Angels led 3-1 wins, again only needed one win from the following three games, but were again defeated three times in a row.

After this season, the Angels followed 16 years without a play-off participation. 1989 they had a big lead in August, but gambled it away against the Oakland Athletics .

In 1995 the Angels also had a big lead in August, but collapsed again due to injury problems and were tied with the Seattle Mariners in the end . In a playoff, the Mariners got the upper hand 9-1. After the death of Gene Autry in 1998, the Disney Company , which was previously only part owner, took over the management of the team. The name also changed, since 1997 they called themselves Anaheim Angels .

2002 was the Angels' most successful year to date. Under manager Mike Scioscia , the Californians won 99 games and were able to secure the wild card of the American League. Against the favored New York Yankees they then prevailed in the American League Divisional Series 3-1, the Minnesota Twins were defeated 4-1 in the Championship Series. For the first time in their more than forty-year history of the club, the Angels had reached the World Series . Opponents in an all-California final were the San Francisco Giants with their superstar Barry Bonds . In a dramatic 2002 World Series , the Angels got the upper hand in 7 games. Game 6 is seen as the decisive point of success. The Angels were 5-0 back in the seventh inning , eight outs from final defeat. With 3 runs each in the seventh and eighth innings, the Angels turned the tables and won the game 6: 5. In the seventh game, the Angels then won 4-1. Troy Glaus has been named a World Series MVP. Substitute thrower Francisco Rodríguez , who had never won a major league game before, won five play-off games and pitcher John Lackey became the first rookie to win the seventh game of a World Series in 93 years.

Further successes in the AL West followed in 2004 and 2005. In 2004, the Boston Red Sox lost 3-0 in the American League Divisional Series. In 2005 the Angels were able to successfully defend their division title for the first time and eliminated the Yankees in five games in the play-offs. However, the Chicago White Sox also prevailed in five games in the ALCS and the Angels missed the entry into the 2005 World Series . Bartolo Colón won the Cy Young Award as the second Angels pitcher.

On January 2, 2005, the team renamed itself to Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in order to distinguish itself as a larger team in the Los Angeles area and to draw attention to the original origin. The city leaders of Anaheim now sued this decision, but were unsuccessful and had to accept the team's new name. In 2016, the "of Anaheim" part of the name was left out without much media attention, so that the team is currently simply called Los Angeles Angels .

In 2006 the Angels wanted to be champions of the West Division of the American League, but could only end the season with 89 wins and 73 losses in second place behind the Oakland Athletics. That year Tim Salmon played his final season. He could not achieve his 300th home run and so he cleared the place forever with 299 home runs.

A year later they were able to win the title in 2007 and moved into the play-offs with 94 wins and 68 losses, but were eliminated in the Division Series against the Boston Red Sox with three lost games. At the end of the season, General Manager Bill Stoneman resigned. Tony Reagins took over his job .

Also in 2008 the Angels were West Division champions of the American League for the seventh time. Stronger than ever before, they were able to win 100 games during the regular season - 21 more than the Texas Rangers, second in the table. In the AL Division Series, which Anaheim again played against the Red Sox as in the previous year, they could only win one game.

In 2009, pitcher Francisco Rodríguez, who had long been playing with the Angels, left the club and moved to the New York Mets. Jon Garland went to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Mark Teixeira now played for the New York Yankees. Bobby Abreu came from the Yankees and Brian Fuentes from the Colorado Rockies came to Anaheim. Two bereavements rocked the club this year: On January 13, Preston Gómez, the assistant to the general manager, died as a result of injuries sustained in March 2008 when he was hit by a car. On April 9, pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a car accident in California. In memory of him, his name was embroidered on the team's jerseys near the heart. Despite the accidents, the Angels were able to win their eighth West Division title and move into the play-offs. After being beaten each time by the Red Sox for two years in the Division Series, they managed to beat Boston with three straight wins in 2009 and advance to the AL Championship. There they had to admit defeat to the Yankees (4-2 wins).

Current squad

Los Angeles Angels player

Active players (25-player group)

Inactive players (40-player group)

Trainer / Others

Pitcher

Starting rotation

Bullpen

Closer

57 Hansel Robles

Catcher

16 Jason Castro
33 Max Stassi

Infielder

Outfielder

Pitcher

Catcher

12 Anthony Bemboom

Infielder

Outfielder

21 Michael Hermosillo

Manager

70 Joe Maddon

Trainer

86 Mike Gallego (bench)
77 Jeremy Reed (hitting)
75 Mickey Callaway (pitching)
62 Jesús Feliciano (First Base)
55 Brian Butterfield (Third Base)
82 José Molina (catching)
83 Matt Wise (bullpen)
92 Manny Del Campo (Bullpen Catcher)
93 Jason Brown (Bullpen Catcher)
87 Paul Sorrento (Assistant Hitting)
88 John Malee (Assistant Hitting)
85 Ryan Garko (Coaching Assistant / Replay Coordinator)

Injury list (7 or 10 days)
* Banned
Roster updated on August 15, 2020
Transfers • Line-up

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the number of players in the active squad at the beginning of the 2020 MLB season on 23/24. July increased to 30 players. Two weeks later there was a scheduled reduction to 28 players. Another two weeks later, the number of players is to be reduced to 26 and maintained for the entire 2020 season. In the case of double-headers , the teams may appoint a 27th player to the active squad.