When did you become an Angels fan? Were you an Angels fan before, during or after the 2002 season?

[AngelArcher]

92 or 93 when I started collecting baseball cards and went to my first Angels game.

[bucbrett]

When I was 4 years old, my uncle brought home a bag full of baseball hats and my cousins, brother and I got to pick one hat out of the bag. I closed my eyes, reached in and pulled out a California Angels hat. My brother picked an Astros hat. Close call.

My avatar is my 7th grade class photo from 1994.

[Chuck]

When I was 4 years old, my uncle brought home a bag full of baseball hats and my cousins, brother and I got to pick one hat out of the bag. I closed my eyes, reached in and pulled out a California Angels hat. My brother picked an Astros hat. Close call.

My avatar is my 7th grade class photo from 1994.

 

Awesome bucbrett. Thanks for sharing. Love the avatar pic! 

[fan_since79]

Self-explanatory.

 

 

[JAHV76]

Introduced in the 70's teased in the 80's, rejected in the 90's and fulfilled in 2002. Hot and bothered since.

[Chuck]

Introduced in the 70's teased in the 80's, rejected in the 90's and fulfilled in 2002. Hot and bothered since.

 

Good honest answer! 

[Richard]

Can remember my first game in 95 on grandma's cookies trading card day, but got really hooked in around 97-98 when my mom's company got season tix and nobody would want the tix.

[sethdohrn]

2005 when I got the opportunity to start working as the Cedar Rapids Kernels Stadium Operations Manager. Have to be one of the biggest Angels fans in Iowa by default right?

[Mark68]

I said 1960s because I was a fan from conception. My dad was there the day Anaheim Stadium opened, and probably took me there when I was a baby.

 

My first memory was 1972. Ryan pitched. I was 4.

[mancini79]

Growing up in central Cali in the 80's and early 90's, the only baseball coverage were the Giants or Dodgers. Since I loved listening to Vin, I swayed toward the Dodgers. I was more a fan of Vin and Piazza than I was of the team entirely. Then I moved to Orange County for college but still didn't have allegiance to any team. I more or less followed certain players and was a fan of baseball in general. I went to a few games at The Big A toward the end of the 2002 season and went to many playoff games and game 7 of the W.S. I was hooked and went all in being an Angels fan. I haven't wavered in the slightest since. 

[Kenny]

Like I said in that other topic.  I've been a fan, pretty much from birth.  I had a framed 8x10 of Nolan Ryan hanging in my childhood bedroom.

[Chuck]

So our new running feature of the 2002 season was the inspiration behind this thread. If you haven't voted yet, please do.

 

Also, if you did become a fan after the 2002 club, these games were historic in that the 2002 Anaheim Angels was magical and at times just eye popping unreal. To relive this again, I'm excited as I've watched the World Series DVD many times, but it was the entire season before they got there that was just amazing to take in as a fan.

[the14thjoey]

The seeds were planted before, but I have to say 1994. That may seem odd, considering that was the strike year, but the strike really got my attention on baseball. It helped that the Angels were so good in 1995. I guess 1995 was my first taste of the old Angels paradigm of playing well enough to finish just short. I was as big a casual fan as anyone up until 2002. I went to games all the time and I was thrilled at wins and disappointed at losses, but 2002 is when I really began truly identifying with the team. That's because 2002 was my first year at school in New York after living my entire life in Santa Ana. Anybody who moves away understands how their relationship with their hometown changes. The Angels were my connection back home. The whole "east coast goes to bed before the west coast plays their games" is pretty accurate, but I stayed up late struggling with 2002's version of streaming video. Beating the Yankees and winning the World Series really helped me establish myself in New York. You wouldn't believe the respect Yankees fans gave to a kid wearing an Angels hat in the city.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Only if it ends with the Angels winning the WS at the end of this season.

and some orlando palmeiro love.

[Broad Street]

My first Little League team was the Angels and my favorite movie when I was a kid (besides the Great Mouse Detective) was Angels in the Outfield (I was adopted and had been in a foster home like the kids in the movie). That's when I started following the Angels, and even though I've only been a home Angels game once (against the Padres in 2002, close score) I've been a fan ever since. I've actually been to the Oakland Stadium for fan fest one year and had a reporter ask me my favorite team when I was wandering around on the field... I said the Angels, and my dad was very upset with me and we left immediately.

[Kevin]

1994 when I was 9 years old. Grew up listening to my dad talk about the '82 and '86 season and the heartbreak that followed. Even though the '95 season sucked hardcore and I was devastated, I can look back on it now and appreciate it a little since it is something every fan should experience with their team. The highs and lows. Especially since I wasn't alive in '82 and only a year and a half old in '86.

[nate]

Born an Angels fan!  1982-current.

 

My Dad has always been a big Angels fan.  I know he has told me before but he moved to Southern California in the late 60's and became a fan then.  I was an Angels fan from the start, baseball has always been my favorite sport to follow.

[Stradling]

I'm looking forward to my brother (splint) posting in this thread. Being a fan was just an expectation growing up, I don't think we've ever had this conversation before. Our older brother, may he rest in peace, was a Dodger fan and was buried in a Dodger Jersey I bought him for Christmas earlier that year. I can't really put my finger on it but my guess is I was closer to Doug (splint) so I became an Angel fan. I'm sure it helped that we grew up in Anaheim.

[RockieCat]

I became a fan at the end of the 1982 run.....yes, I'll admit, I was a "bandwagoner" at that time- but I was only in elementary school at the time! ;-) Became a full time fan in 1983 (yes- I know....)

But I've stayed ever since, and I'm not going anywhere! :-D GO ANGELS!

[Brandon]

Around 1992.

Just a kid playing little league, the Angels were the local team, and Wally was a funny name.

[CanadianHalo]

Became a fan around 1993, i was 5 and started choosing teams in each of the 4 main sports to follow. Ive lived in Winnipeg my whole life and have no ties to California. At 5 my decision to choose a team in each league was based on the appeal of the logo and jerseys, and the Angels logo and uni's caught my eye. Also i was a fan of J.T Snow for some reason. Very random i know, but i love the Angels. Made my first trip down to The Big A last June for the Rangers series and 1 Mariners game.

[Chuck]

Good stories guys! 

[Angels Never Die]

What happened to secret ballots, Chuck? What kind of shitty ass democracy are you running here?

[Brian Ilten]

1967 out of the womb.  My Grandfather and Father were old PCL Angels fans.  I remember them telling stories of how they hated the fact that Brooklyn moved in and they could not stand OMalley for what he did to the Angels and the effect the move had on the PCL in general.  It destroyed 2-3 generations of baseball history.

 

When the Angels became an AL team there was no question where the loyalties of the family were going to be, and the way OMalley treated Autry just further increased the family's devotion and defense of the Angels and fueled the hatred of the Dodger organization.

 

I laugh when I see and hear Dodger fans talk about their "superiority" in Los Angeles.  They really know nothing about baseball or its history.

[Angel Oracle]

The day the Halos scored 12 runs in the 8th inning at not so skanky and decrepit Fenway in late April 1966, while I was still living in Charlotte at age 9

 

I read about it in the Charlotte paper the next day, and knowing that the family was moving to So Cal that June plus that event = new Halos fan.