Big Announcement - AngelsWin.com Celebrates 10 Years

[AngelsWin.com]

By Senior Writer David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com - 

Happy New Years Angels fans & AngelsWin.com faithful. The Announcement you have all been waiting for is finally here! It's time to celebrate an anniversary, and one that will be celebrated over the entire course of the 2014 calendar year. (More details on that later)

Ten years. That’s a long time. In internet years, that’s almost an eternity.

Think back: where were you 10 years ago? What were you doing? Where did you go to talk Angels baseball?

They say that all it takes for good things to happen is that someone stands up and says I’ll do it. And that’s how AngelsWin.com started—Chuck Richter looked around the internet at the limited options for Angels fans and decided that Angels fans needed and deserved an internet site to call their own. He created AngelsWin.com: a website by Angels fans for Angels fans.

If you go back that far with AngelsWin.com, give yourself a gold star. Heck, go ahead and give yourself 5 gold stars—Lee won’t mind.

When AngelsWin.com started, it was a small group of friends who got together to talk Angels baseball. There was a lot to talk about: The memories of the 2002 Championship Team were still strong. Arte Moreno made a big splash by signing Vladimir Guerrero, Bartolo Colon, and Kelvim Escobar. The team seemed poised for a spectacular run.

Not one to be complacent, Chuck wanted to do more than just talk about the Angels. He wanted to help shape the conversation. So, he started reaching out to members on the site and leveraging contacts with the Angels to give Angels fans their own unique perspective where they would drive the course of the conversation.

By doing that, AngelsWin.com became dubbed the “Voice of the Fans” by KNX 1070 AM Radio. Whenever they, or for that matter any media outlet, needed an Angels fan’s perspective, they contacted AngelsWin.com. Whether it was providing commentary for USA Today during the playoffs, commenting on the Dan Haren trade on XM Radio, or giving a perspective on the ongoing negotiations between the team and the City on CNN Latino, AngelsWin.com has been there to be the voice of the fans.

As the website grew, Chuck wanted to branch out into all things related to Angels baseball. For hardcore fans, that meant branching out into all levels of the organization. AngelsWin.com started providing prospect lists, bios, and updates. As the connections between the website and the players grew, we got them to write blogs on our site to give fans a unique perspective into their lives. Over time, we began to advertise with Angels affiliates.

As the collection of writers grew, more possibilities opened for the website. At first it was a few interviews, almost all of which were audio recorded. Hours were spent transcribing them for fans to make them useful for fans. In time, it grew to video interviews and holiday greetings.

Through the steady and professional work put forth by the website, the Angels front office began to pay attention to AngelsWin.com. They became more receptive to our interview requests giving us the chance to truly shape the conversation. AngelsWin.com arranged for online chat interviews with Eddie Bane, the Director of Scouting for the Angels. He gave fans true insights into the development of players who would go on to become staples of the team. Soon, doors opened with Abe Flores, Tony Reagins and Jerry Dipoto.

With content like that, more fans kept coming. Soon AngelsWin.com was busting at the seams and the website needed to be redesigned to handle the volume of traffic. Shortly thereafter, a second redesign had to be done. And by 2013, we had already done our 4^th expansion to handle all the Angels traffic. What had once been a little chatboard had become mainstream.

AngelsWin.com has always been about the community. And, there’s no better way to build community than to get people together in person. So, in 2006, a group from AngelsWin.com decided to meet up in Spring Training. At a bar called Hail Marys they met, ate food, drank suds, and relished in Angels’ stories. And thus, the Spring Training Fanfest was born.

But, as with the website itself, the Spring Training Fanfests grew until they too burst at the seams. Within a few years, the crowd could no longer fit into Hail Mary’s—a new location had to be found. Soon, getting together just once a year as a community wasn’t enough; a summer Fanfest at the Big A was added including charity events dedicated to raising funds for the O.C. Miracle League. Even that has grown in just a few short years to include a charity golf tournament, a golf tournament, and a whole weekend of fun.

In 2012, Arte Moreno, the Angel’s owner attended our Spring Training Fanfest to take questions directly from the fans. Since then, Jerry Dipoto, the Angels General Manager, Tim Salmon, and all the Angels reporters have come to speak with our ever growing community.

Along the way, AngelsWin.com got credentialed to sit in the press box. Then, we got credentialed to be in the clubhouse and conduct interviews. And, finally, we were invited to the press conferences where we were allowed to ask a question on live national TV!

But really, AngelsWin.com is all about you, the fans. It’s about the community that comes here daily, follows us on Twitter and Facebook, and engages with one another.

So, how shall celebrate our 10-year anniversary? By honoring you, our fans. Over the next year, we will be interviewing members of our community to tell their stories, to share their favorite memories, to relive their greatest moments.

Of course we will continue to do all that makes AngelsWin.com THE internet home for Angels fans. We will continue to debate all things that are Angels baseball. We will continue the Fanfests. We will continue to provide content, news, and prospect lists. We will have our game day chats and our interviews.

As we begin the second decade of our existence, we want to thank you, our fans for making it all possible. What started as an idea from Chuck Richter has grown into so much more. As each of you has joined our site and encouraged others to come, we have continued to grow and expand our offerings to make AngelsWin.com truly a 24/7 community by Angels fans, for Angels fans.

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[Amazing Larry]

Congrats on ten years fellas. This site rocks!

[Splint7438]

As a long time fan I remember so well taking a backseat to the Dodgers in local coverage. Was like that until we actually won the World Series. Things have changed a lot over the last 10-12 years. And make no mistake Angelswin and the efforts of those behind the scenes have a lot to do with how this team is viewed locally and nationally. I could not be happier with how much awareness there is of the team. Thanks chuck for having the desire to pursue this.

[ELEVEN]

My turn to poop

[Angelfan79]

Glad I stumbled across this site few years ago by looking for something new and all about Angels!!

[eligrba]

Thanks Chuck for having a vision.  Its a great place to get Angel news, insights, and insults.

[Chuck]

This was just the announcement of our 10th anniversary season, but throughout the 2014 calendar year we have some exciting events and features to provide for all you fans and loyal AW.com members.

We will also increase our efforts for more contests and prize giveaways.

I feel incredibly humbled that this website is where it is today after what was just an idea that popped in my head after the 2002 season that I put into action. I had no expectations other than to talk Angels Baseball with other passionate Angels fans and provide some Angels related content along the way.

The best part about this for me is the friendships I've formed from this website and the good times we've shared at our Spring & Summer fanfests. The maturation of our writers and the quality of their content, the support and friendship of the Angels organization and the quality of the website itself. Wow! I could not be happier and proud to be a part of such an awesome group of people as we unravel one thread at a time.

Thank you all for your support and loyalty to AngelsWin.com. There is not a day that goes by that I do not appreciate that.

Happy New Year. Here's to a successful community and Angels season in 2014. Cheers!

[Splint7438]

Wait......we have to be loyal?

[BaseballMom]

Congrats to AW!  I have made some great friendships as well through the site and our gatherings.  

[The Dude]

Screw that I'm going back to the old board.

Honestly though Id also like to thank Chuck and the staff for all the hard work you guys have put in over the years its much appreciated. This site has become a part of my daily routine since I first came across it during the 2007 season and I don't anticipate that changing anytime soon. Keep up the good work guys!

Props for the Lee ref.

[CanadianHalo]

Congrats guys!

[Spirit]

Could not be more proud of all we've done! Could not be more excited for all we still have to do!

[halodground]

AW has been my go to for Angels news and discussion since 2008.  Thanks for all the hard work Chuck and Co.

[Thomas]

Wait......we have to be loyal?

Oh our um..arrangement with the NSA ensures that.

[Jason]

Yeah this site is awesome. This year I will try to get to some of the Angelswin events as I have yet to attend any of them. I would really like to meet the fellow members here.

[Mark68]

Oh our um..arrangement with the NSA ensures that.

You mean there is an actual arrangement with the NSA?

[disarcina]

Ten Years?? No Way?

 

Hard to believe..........

 

seems like just yesterday we were all complaining about the trolls on the old ESPN site.

 

Have been to that ESPN site (Angels team page) perhaps three times over the past ten years (and that might be an over-estimate) and ZERO times in the past five years.....I remember the last time I checked, it was like a ghost town.

 

Congrats to Chuck and the Angelswin.com team here -- I still remember the switch over from the ESPN site (even if I am having difficulty realizing it was TEN YEARS AGO) and how within a relatively short period of time - perhaps three weeks to a month -- all the regulars on the ESPN site were at Angelswin.com and most of us didn't even want to check the rear view mirror....... 

[Dave Saltzer]

I am proud to be a part of all that has been built here and look forward to all that will be built over the next decade. It is truly an honor to be a part of the best website and best community for Angels fans.

[Brent Maguire]

I haven't been on the site the whole ten years but since 2009, this site has given me a place to talk baseball with other fans who share the same passion as me.

I'm definitely going to try to make it out to more events this year so I can meet more of you guys.

Congrats on 10 years guys!

[Guest]

10 years is a great accomplishment: just shows how great this's community is. I'll be a member as long as this place exists. Happy New Years, guys.

[Angel Oracle]

As a member since 2007, congrats on 10 years!

Agreeing or disagreeing on endless threads, it's great to have a place with the passion that this one has.

[tomsred]

Thanks everyone for all the hard work and dedication to our team!

[Redondo]

Congrats!

 

Thanks Chuck.

[Chuck]

11,718,235 Website Page Views in 2013. 

[Brent Maguire]

11,718,235 Website Page Views in 2013. 

That's incredible Chuck.