2nd Oldest?

Did you know, having opened in 1966, Angel Stadium is the second oldest park in the American League after Fenway Park.  Here is the nine oldest ballparks in major league baseball. Tampa Bay Rays' Trop comes in at #8 showing how many stadiums have been built in the last quarter century.


Fenway Park            1912
Wrigley Field           1914
Dodger Stadium       1962
Angel Stadium         1966 (April)
McAfee Coliseum    1966 (September)
Kauffman Stadium   1973
Rogers Centre          1989
Tropicana Field        1990
US Cellular Field     1991

Fact #8 - Win first division

It took 19 years, but the Angels would finally win their first division championship in 1979. Jim Fregosi took over the Halos the previous year, but this would be his first full season as skipper. Don Baylor, Bobby Grich, Rod Carew, and Brian Downing led an offense that only had one starting player with a batting average under .280.  Downing would hit .326 while Grich and Baylor both powered 30+ home runs. The pitching wasn't spectacular, but they got the job done. The staff was lead by 26 year-old Dave Frost and 32 year-old veteran Nolan Ryan who both threw over 200 innings. The Angels would fall to Earl Weaver's Orioles powered by Ken Singleton and Eddie Murray. It would be Weaver's final American League Championship.

1 Million - Fact #3

It was just the second year in franchise history when the Angels fan-base broke the one million mark in attendance. The year was 1962, and it was the first year the Angels would play their home games in Chavez Ravine. The Angels used Wrigley Field in Los Angeles for their inaugural season in 1961, but the old Spanish-style ballpark had a max capacity of 22,000 fans. Even the Dodgers looked at using Wrigley when they first moved from Brooklyn. However a 93,000 seated Coliseum was more enticing. Wrigley was owned by William Wrigley, the chewing gum king who owned the Cubs. Built in 1925, Wrigley Field in Los Angeles was the home of the Los Angeles Angels and the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League. Located in south central at 42nd Place and Avalon Blvd, just two miles from the Coliseum, Wrigley was given one special major league season in 1961 as a farewell to the old park. They averaged 7,500 fans a game which gave them just over 600,000 fans for the season.

Jan 1, 2013 Fact

Dean Chance won the first Cy Young award in franchise history in 1964. Chance went 20-9 with a 1.65 ERA for the Halos. From 1962-1966 only pitchers from the Angels or Dodgers won the award (Drysdale '62 | Koufax '63, '65, '66). In 1967 the award would be given to a pitcher from the AL & NL for the first time since the award began in 1956.