When & Why did you become a fan of the Angels or Baseball?

[Chuck]

Was there a defining moment that grabbed your attention or when you fell in love with baseball? What ultimately led to you becoming a fan of the #Angels or another team? 

I'll add mine below. 

--

Mine was in the summer of 1979, I was 9-years old. My dad always had Angels games playing on the radio or on the TV. I fondly remember trips to the store or camping when my dad had the game on the radio. His reactions to what was going on in the game was loud & full of emotions.

I will never forget his passion when the Angels were in pursuit of their very first playoff berth in 1979 he would chant "Yes We Can. Yes We Can." That really tugged at my heart. I listened & watched every game from July through the playoffs that year. Was a fan ever since!

When Bobby Grich hit that walk-off home run against Yankees star lefty Ron Guidry on July 15th, I became a fan! The rest was history! Some 25 years later I built what became one of the most popular baseball fan sites on the net, AngelsWin.com.

What a fun ride! Go Halos!

I'd like to hear your story.

[Stradling]

I’ll share my early Angel memories when I have more time.  Oddly Chuck one of them centered around Ron Guidry as well.  

[Angel Oracle]

End of April 1966: Halos score 12 runs in the 8th at Fenway.   I read about it the next day in a Charlotte newspaper, and become a fan a month before moving out here as a 9 year-old with my parents.

That 1979 series with the Skanks was an epic sweep.   Ryan’s near no-no, Baylor’s 3 run shot off the foul pole the next night in the 9th to tie it, and Grich’s game winner that Sunday

Dick Enberg’s call on Baylor’s shot:  “He hit the foul pole!  He hit the foul pole!   Oh my!”

Edited September 8, 2020 by Angel Oracle

[Angels 1961]

December 1960, my dad and I became fans. We moved out here in 1958 and my dad was big Cleveland fan. At age of 8 he taught me to hate the Dodgers. So with new AL team coming to LA where we lived at the time that became our team. Went to many games in Wrigley field in downtown LA the first year. I remember Angel players riding bikes from hotel to spring training in Palm Springs. 1962 my favorite halo team with a bunch cast offs and young players. July 4 that year in first place. I've been a fan from day 1.

[Angels 1961]

41 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Was there a defining moment that grabbed your attention or when you fell in love with baseball? What ultimately led to you becoming a fan of the #Angels or another team? 

I'll add mine below. 

--

Mine was in the summer of 1979, I was 9-years old. My dad always had Angels games playing on the radio or on the TV. I fondly remember trips to the store or camping when my dad had the game on the radio. His reactions to what was going on in the game was loud & full of emotions.

I will never forget his passion when the Angels were in pursuit of their very first playoff berth in 1979 he would chant "Yes We Can. Yes We Can." That really tugged at my heart. I listened & watched every game from July through the playoffs that year. Was a fan ever since!

When Bobby Grich hit that walk-off home run against Yankees star lefty Ron Guidry on July 15th, I became a fan! The rest was history! Some 25 years later I built what became one of the most popular baseball fan sites on the net, AngelsWin.com.

What a fun ride! Go Halos!

I'd like to hear your story.

I was at that game Grich hit home run, still see Reggie Jackson drifting back on that ball.

[Angel Oracle]

There was another Skanks weekend series that the Halos also swept 3 years later (1982).

Grich homered off Gossage to complete that sweep.   I went to the Saturday night game where Reggie hit two HRs by the 3rd inning to lead the Halos rout. 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Angel Oracle

[kevinb]

When I was a kid growing up in Orange County. My family are huge baseball fans came with the territory. I was an Angels fan and Kings fan until the Ducks arrived and then I said goodbye to the LA Kings and hello Ducks!

[Justin]

My dad took me to my first-ever baseball game at Angel Stadium. (I think it was for Cub Scouts.) He bought me some kind of pack of commemorative baseball cards and I memorized all the players. I’m not 100% sure of the year but I’m guessing ‘89.

I grew up much closer to Dodger Stadium and all the kids at my elementary school wore those ugly satin Dodgers jackets. But it didn’t seem like they knew anything about the team; they were just claiming to be Dodgers fans because the team had won the World Series a couple of years earlier. Since I knew about all of the Angels players thanks to that card set, it was easy to call myself an Angels fan. 

If my first game had been at Dodger Stadium, or if the Dodgers had not won the World Series in ‘88 and turned my whole elementary school in bandwagoners, I have no doubt I would have become a Dodgers fan instead. 

[arch stanton]

Living in Garden Grove in 1973. I come from a family of Dodgers fans and as a 9 year old I was still loving baseball but undecided on a team I listened to both team on radio just about every night but nothing about the Dodgers seemed that interesting to me and I even became a bit of a Big Red Machine fan as they pulled away with the division. Then late in the summer the Nolan Ryan chase for the strikeout record was what really caught my attention and even over the next few seasons  as the Dodgers were winning and going to the WS I stuck with the Angels and maybe it's that I preferred listening to Enberg and Drysdale plus the few games I was able to attend every year but just always stayed an Angels fan

Edited September 8, 2020 by arch stanton

[nothing, Nothing]

1995 games at The Big A as a early teen always remembering Lee Smith warming up to go in and hearing that insanely loud ''pop'' ... Dad always liked left field towards the back (cheap seats i'm guessing) so we were right there where the relief pitchers warmed up and seeing/hearing Lee Smith & a year later Troy Percival was so great ,, as i recall where they warmed up back then from above it looked like a open dungeon just very small tight place where the sound would bounce off the walls and make it just that much louder ... Also i believe they would put a timer on the big screen for Lee Smith because he had such a slow walk to the mound , can't recall how long it would take him but i do remember they would clock him to the mound as a joke for the stadium ... Besides that it's funny the most memorable moments those first few years was watching the A's play and seeing McGwire & Canseco (pre 92 trade) massive home runs & watching Ricky Henderson steal almost every time he got on first ... For the Angeles it was watching Finley/Langston/Abbot pitch and Salmon/Edmonds/Phillips/Snow/Chili Davis hit and Percival close games out ,, all real great stuff very well balanced team   

[Chuck]

Good stuff guys, keep them coming! 

[failos]

Went to an Angels game in 1996 as a kid for a field trip since my elementary school was in Yorba  Linda. I was naturally an Angels fan since I’m an OC native.
 

Though, I wasn’t really into baseball until my best friend got me to join Pony league in 5th grade, and he and his dad took me to an Angels game (he’s a Yanks fan since he’s from NY). It must’ve been Sosh’s first year as manager and I loved the team right away.

Anyways, once I reached middle school (inland empire) I wore a Halos hat every day and was even picked on for liking them—especially in 2002. It was so fun seeing them win the WS and seeing the bullies cower in shame for being wrong about the Angels.

Edited September 8, 2020 by failos

[BadDog]

12 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

There was another Skanks weekend series that the Halos also swept 3 years later (1982).

Grich homered off Gossage to complete that sweep.   I went to the Saturday night game where Reggie hit two HRs by the 3rd inning to lead the Halos rout. 

1982 Angels v Yankees box score.docx

 

Not sure if you can see the box score I tried to attach.  That was my first ever live professional sport to witness (9 years old).  We were there for a church group activity with my grandmother.  I didn't have a favorite team at the time but I did when we left.  Reggie's two homers and Fred Lynn added one too.  Took down the mighty Yankees and Ron Guidry.  Angels fan ever since!

[Chuck]

 

 

[fanfromday1]

12 hours ago, Angels 1961 said:

December 1960, my dad and I became fans.... Went to many games in Wrigley field in downtown LA the first year. I remember Angel players riding bikes from hotel to spring training in Palm Springs. 1962 my favorite halo team with a bunch cast offs and young players. July 4 that year in first place. I've been a fan from day 1.

Me too (check out my screen name). Actually I've been an Angels baseball fan since the late 1940s when my dad use to take me to see the old 'PCL Angels' play in old Wrigley Field. When the Dodgers moved here in 1958 they bought the 'PCL Angel' team and moved my favorite team out of town. I really hated the Dodgers for that.

On the day after the Angels held their original 'Player Draft' in December of 1960, I could hardly wait to get my hands on the morning paper to see who they had selected. As I looked at the list I recognized very few names. I collected bubble-gum baseball cards back then, so I pulled them out and started sorting through them. I found some of the players, but not all. (Back then, the backs of baseball cards were the only way that a person could find out what a players baseball statistics were. Although during the baseball season the Sunday paper Sports section did list the top 100 players, or so. But this was December). Over the next few days I did a lot of trading of baseball cards with my friends so I could get more Angel players cards.

As Angels 1961 said, in Spring Training of 1961 the Angels players use to ride their bikes from their Hotel in Palm Springs to the practice fields with Gene Autry in the lead. The players hated the routine, and before long players started reporting that their bikes had mysteriously disappeared. Coincidentally, neighbors in Palm Springs started reporting that they were finding new red bicycles hidden in their hedges, or in alleys behind their houses. 

My dad and I attended the first ever Angels home game in 1961. Ty Cobb threw out the first pitch, and then died a week or so later. (I wonder if this was the first in the Angels long streak of having players die? Although they did only hire Cobb to throw just that one pitch). The Angels lost their inaugural home game to the Minnesota Twins 4-2. But I didn't care, the Angels were back home in LA again.

My brother and I attended many Angel home games that first summer. We took the 'Red Cars' up from the Long Beach, Compton area and got off in LA, and then walked a mile or so over to Wrigley Field. The games I remember the most were the games against the Yankees. Mantle and Maris were in a great Home Run chase that year and I wanted to see them hit one out of tiny Wrigley Field. Sadly, for me anyway, they didn't, not in the games I attended anyway. However, I did manage to snag a ball that Maris hit into the right field bleachers during batting practice.

So I guess you can say that I have been an Angel fan my whole life (75 yr.'s), although it was two different Angel teams.

  

[mmc]

Mine's way later than anyone else so far, I didn't really become a fan until around 2007, when I was 7 years old.  I first got big into sports having season tickets to the Ducks in the 2006-07 season (when they won the cup) and while I'm still a much bigger fan of the Ducks than the Angels, that's when I really first got into baseball.

[m0nkey]

Seems like Erstad always got a hit in 2000, and I picked them to be my team. Went to my first game in 2002 (a Ramón Ortiz shutout against Baltimore, also the game chone figgins had his first career AB). 
 

Doesn’t hurt that they won the WS when I turned 10. 

[Angels 1961]

2 hours ago, fanfromday1 said:

Me too (check out my screen name). Actually I've been an Angels baseball fan since the late 1940s when my dad use to take me to see the old 'PCL Angels' play in old Wrigley Field. When the Dodgers moved here in 1958 they bought the 'PCL Angel' team and moved my favorite team out of town. I really hated the Dodgers for that.

On the day after the Angels held their original 'Player Draft' in December of 1960, I could hardly wait to get my hands on the morning paper to see who they had selected. As I looked at the list I recognized very few names. I collected bubble-gum baseball cards back then, so I pulled them out and started sorting through them. I found some of the players, but not all. (Back then, the backs of baseball cards were the only way that a person could find out what a players baseball statistics were. Although during the baseball season the Sunday paper Sports section did list the top 100 players, or so. But this was December). Over the next few days I did a lot of trading of baseball cards with my friends so I could get more Angel players cards.

As Angels 1961 said, in Spring Training of 1961 the Angels players use to ride their bikes from their Hotel in Palm Springs to the practice fields with Gene Autry in the lead. The players hated the routine, and before long players started reporting that their bikes had mysteriously disappeared. Coincidentally, neighbors in Palm Springs started reporting that they were finding new red bicycles hidden in their hedges, or in alleys behind their houses. 

My dad and I attended the first ever Angels home game in 1961. Ty Cobb threw out the first pitch, and then died a week or so later. (I wonder if this was the first in the Angels long streak of having players die? Although they did only hire Cobb to throw just that one pitch). The Angels lost their inaugural home game to the Minnesota Twins 4-2. But I didn't care, the Angels were back home in LA again.

My brother and I attended many Angel home games that first summer. We took the 'Red Cars' up from the Long Beach, Compton area and got off in LA, and then walked a mile or so over to Wrigley Field. The games I remember the most were the games against the Yankees. Mantle and Maris were in a great Home Run chase that year and I wanted to see them hit one out of tiny Wrigley Field. Sadly, for me anyway, they didn't, not in the games I attended anyway. However, I did manage to snag a ball that Maris hit into the right field bleachers during batting practice.

So I guess you can say that I have been an Angel fan my whole life (75 yr.'s), although it was two different Angel teams.

  

I went to second home game and after losing 9 straight Angels won in 10 inn. Ken Hamlin hit game tying HR and they scored one more to win I believe 6 to 5. I can still see that ball going over the wall in LF. Hamlin hit maybe 4 or 5 HR in his career. I loved going to the Double Headers they had in those days. Buying peanuts outside the stadium for like 10 cents. They sold the newspaper that you could keep score on plus listed players. My mom would ride the Red Car to work. Long time ago but many memories.

[fanfromday1]

2 hours ago, Angels 1961 said:

I loved going to the Double Headers they had in those days. Buying peanuts outside the stadium for like 10 cents. They sold the newspaper that you could keep score on plus listed players. 

If you remember the first few years that the Angels were in LA they played a lot of day games and Double Headers. The reason being was that the Angeles were the only American League baseball team on the west coast back then. They were at least 2000 miles from their nearest rival. So when teams were scheduled to come to LA they usually need some extra time to get here. And when the series was over they needed extra time to return back home. Back then the American League scheduled a lot of off days and double headers for teams scheduled coming to the west coast.

Not many baseball teams flew back then. They mostly traveled by bus or train. Airplane travel was something new to baseball. And believe it or not, many players refused to fly.  

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/jackie-jensen/

Here's a list of concession prices back then.
 

[Yellow Balloon]

My grandparents lived in Tioga, TX where Gene Autry was born and raised before moving across the river into Oklahoma.  The Rangers hadn't moved to DFW from DC yet so my grandfather followed the Angels because of the Autry connection ... and Nolan Ryan.  So it just kind of rubbed off on me, I guess.  

As a kid I met lots of old timers who knew Gene (or claimed to know him) and few of them had anything good to say about him, or at least about his family. Apparently the town doctor, who was probably the most respected and well-loved guy in town, and was still alive at the time, was never paid for delivering Gene, and that was a really big deal to those people.    

In the mid-70's they tried to get Gene to return for some kind of centennial celebration and he said he'd be honored to -- as long as they changed the name of the town to Autry Springs. They told him to fuck off. 

 

    

[Angels 1961]

11 hours ago, fanfromday1 said:

If you remember the first few years that the Angels were in LA they played a lot of day games and Double Headers. The reason being was that the Angeles were the only American League baseball team on the west coast back then. They were at least 2000 miles from their nearest rival. So when teams were scheduled to come to LA they usually need some extra time to get here. And when the series was over they needed extra time to return back home. Back then the American League scheduled a lot of off days and double headers for teams scheduled coming to the west coast.

Not many baseball teams flew back then. They mostly traveled by bus or train. Airplane travel was something new to baseball. And believe it or not, many players refused to fly.  

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/jackie-jensen/

Here's a list of concession prices back then.
 

Eastside beer my boss at store I worked at in 1970 that was his beer. He would drive to Joe Josts bar and grill in Long Beach because they had Eastside on tap. That first year was magical sit in bleachers or be by fence in RF so close to field. My favorite team was 1962 in race in September that year. I was at Bo Belinsky's no hitter in May. Maybe 6,000 fans that night. 

[Angelsjunky]

January 21, 2011. The Angels make a dastardly, audacious trade that will ensure years of excellence...jk.

It was either 1980 or '81. We visit my grandparents in Palm Springs where the Angels held their spring training until 1992. I see paraphernalia everywhere and fall in love with the 'look.' I only hazily followed the team for the first few years, remembering being angry when they lost to the Brewers in '82. I think my first favorite Angels was Rod Carew. My family moved to England in 1985-87, so I entirely missed '86, but came back in spring of '87 and began following the Angels very closely. My favorite players were Wally Joyner and Devon White.

Another favorite early memory was back in Palm Springs in 1989, when I visited my grandfather for spring break. He bought me tickets for the week, so I attended spring games and got to see a 19-year old Griffey. I also remember being struck by the speed and athleticism of Devo.

Anyone, love seeing so many "old-timers" here, and the fact that we have fans spanning several generations.

 

[tdawg87]

My early Angels fandom is ridiculous and stupid and totally tdawg.

I started following in 1992 on the heels of my dad and brother. I was 5 then and I remember crying when they lost (there was a lot of crying). Then I got "edgy" and wanted to be different for no reason. I started "following" the White Sox or some shit even though I always checked on the Angels.

It wasn't until 2000 when I finally came out of the closet. I was 13 and figured it was time to stop being gay. We all went to Toronto in 2002 and it was awesome. Then some cool shit happened in 2002 and I've been obsessed ever since.

[eligrba]

I became a fan during my epic year playing AA baseball in East Orange Little League in 1972.