Why did the Angels move to Anaheim?

ANAHEIM -- The Angels have called Anaheim home since 1966 after playing one season at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field in their inaugural season in '61 and four seasons at Dodger Stadium, which the organization referred to as Chavez Ravine for home games.

But why did the Angels choose Anaheim as their home and move away from Los Angeles after just five seasons as the Los Angeles Angels?

It was a combination of factors that led to the decision and there was even a point where the franchise had a chance to move to Long Beach before ultimately settling in Anaheim, just 11 years after the opening of Disneyland, which put the agricultural Orange County city on the map.

Owner Gene Autry established the franchise as an expansion team in Los Angeles in 1961, but there was always the issue of where the club would play long term. Autry initially looked into playing games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but that was nixed by Major League Baseball because of the short fence in left field. The Dodgers played at the Coliseum for four seasons from '58-61, but the fence was only 250 feet from home plate.

So the Angels played their first season at the now demolished Wrigley Field, which was located just southeast of USC near downtown Los Angeles. But when Dodger Stadium opened in 1962, the Angels became co-tenants with the Dodgers.

The Dodgers, however, were difficult to compete with for local fans because they arrived in Los Angeles first and won a World Series title in 1959, and again in '63 and '65.

In the first year of Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers drew a league-best 2,755,184 fans, while the Angels drew 1,144,063. The disparity only worsened over the next few years, including in 1965, when the Dodgers drew 2,553,577 but the Angels had an attendance of just 566,727. And it didn't help that the terms of the lease had the Angels splitting many of the costs with the Dodgers despite their lower attendance and revenues.

It became increasingly evident the Angels would have to get out of the shadow of the Dodgers and create their own identity at their own ballpark. Autry had talks with Long Beach first but refused to call his team the Long Beach Angels, so he nixed the potential deal.

Autry struck a deal with the city of Anaheim instead, and the ground was broken for what would initially be called Anaheim Stadium on Aug. 31, 1964. The Angels also announced in September of 1965 that the organization would now be called the California Angels after their move away from Los Angeles. They became only the second team to be named after a state, joining the Minnesota Twins, but it was fitting, as the Angels were the first Major League Baseball team to be established in California first, as the Giants and Dodgers came from New York.

The ballpark officially opened on April 9, 1966, when the Angels hosted the Giants in an exhibition game, and the first official game came on April 19, 1966, in a 3-1 loss to the White Sox.

The move proved to be a major success with the fan base, as the Angels drew more than 1.4 million fans in their first year at the ballpark, an increase of almost a million fans from the year before. Their attendance in '66 led the American League and held mostly steady until the club became much more popular in the late 1970s with talent-laden rosters featuring stars such as Don Baylor, Brian Downing, Bobby Grich, Frank Tanana, Nolan Ryan and Rod Carew.

The Angels have remained in Anaheim and at Angel Stadium ever since, and the organization isn't leaving the area anytime soon. In December 2019, the club signed an agreement with the city to remain in Anaheim through at least 2050 with options that could keep the franchise there through 2065.

It's still unclear if Angels owner Arte Moreno will build a new stadium on the property or renovate the current ballpark, but either way, the Angels and Anaheim will be linked until at least the middle of this century.