In the 80s and 90s, the Angels were called the California Angels, then it was changed to Anaheim Angels. This is understandable as that was probably the actual city the team was located, but why are they now being called the Los Angeles Angels? Did they actually move, or did they just think Los Angeles sounded more recognizable?

my_baby_love

Los Angeles is a much bigger market than tiny Anaheim and Los Angeles did not have an American League Baseball team, so, now like Chicago and New York, LA also has both a National and American League team. What I don't understand is why LA does not have a football team when not long ago they had two! Sep 28 05, 9:50 AM

robboy

Okay, it all gets a little confusing in the shuffle of the names, but they're still the same team since about 1925 when the team debuted in the Pacific Coast League. From there they graduated to the American League under a few different names like the California Angels, L.A. Angels and now officially The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, actually situated in Anaheim. The original stadium for the Angels back in '25 was Wrigley Field , same name and owner as the Cubs at the time, and was used until around '61 when the Angels bunked with the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in L.A. pending the construction of Anaheim Stadium in '65, where it was to be shared with the L.A. Rams. When the Rams left, the stadium was further renovated for baseball only and the name became Edison International Field of Anaheim. It is currently Angel Stadium of Anaheim. As to why the name incorporates L.A. and Anaheim, the owner seemed to feel it would encourage patronage--some folks have called that fan stealing, and there currently is litigation in progress that may involve yet another name change. Sep 28 05, 12:37 PM

JoshCaleb12

There is actually legislation that was being considered to make it illegal to call your team as being from a city that it is not located in... and this legislation came about in part because the Angels changed their name from Anaheim to Los Angeles, without actually moving to Los Angeles... Go figure... Sep 29 05, 12:08 AM