Mac Angels Tickets

The setting was Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. The combatants, the newly formed Los Angeles Angels and the powerhouse Baltimore Orioles. The date was April 11, 1961, and the game was the first ever for Gene Autry's collection of untried rookies and major league castoffs.

Angels Manager Bill Rigney, former skipper of the San Francisco Giants, fielded the following lineup: Ted Kluszewski at first, Ken Aspromonte at second, Fritz Brickell at short and Eddie Yost at third. The outfield consisted of Albie Pearson in right, Ken Hunt in center and Bob Cerv in left. Eli Grba, a six-game winner with the New York Yankees in 1960 and the Angels' No. 1 selection in the first-ever expansion draft, was on the mound. His battery mate was veteran Del Rice.

On paper, the game appeared a mismatch. Milt Pappas was awarded opening day honors for the Birds. Considered the ace of the staff, Pappas won 15 games a year earlier for the second-place Orioles.

In the first inning, the powerful, 6-2, 240-pound Kluszewski homered to right following a walk to his diminutive roommate, the 5-5, 140-pound Pearson. Cerv scored a run with a base hit and Big Klu followed with his second home run. Grba, staked to a 7-0 lead, took charge. The eventual outcome was 7-2 and the Angels had their first victory.

The team, which called historic Wrigley Field home that first season, went on to record 70 wins -- more than any expansion team in history. But that was only the beginning. The next year, the Angels would literally shock the baseball world by challenging the powerhouse New York Yankees for the American League pennant.

Robert "Bo" Belinsky Pitches No-Hitter The date was May 5, 1962. A brash, 25-year-old rookie, who vowed to set the American League, "on its ear," was doing just that against the Baltimore Orioles.

For 8 2/3 innings, Robert "Bo" Belinsky had shut down the Orioles without a hit. The only batter left between Belinsky and Los Angeles Angels history was outfielder Dave Nicholson.

The southpaw worked the count to 1-1 before Nicholson lofted a towering foul ball in the direction of Angels third baseman Felix Torres, who fought the pop-up all the way, before catching it just inches away from the third base foul line. Belinsky's 2-0 no-hit victory became a reality.

A Dodger Stadium crowd of 15,886 saw the colorful Belinsky toss the first no-hitter since major league baseball arrived in Los Angeles with the Dodgers in 1958; the first no-hitter in the American League since Hoyt Wilhelm turned the trick when he beat the New York Yankees 1-0 on September 20, 1958; the first A.L. no-hitter by a southpaw since Boston's Mel Parnell fashioned one against Chicago on July 14, 1956, winning 4-0; and the first no-hitter by a rookie since Bobo Holloman of the old St. Louis Browns beat Philadelphia 6-0 on May 6, 1953.

Belinsky, in hurling his gem, walked four, hit two and had another reach base on an error. His biggest predicament came in the fourth inning when, with one out, he walked Jim Gentile and Jackie Brandt, and Gus Triandos reached first on an error to fill the bases. However, Belinsky struck out Nicholson and got Ron Hanson to fly out to end the threat.

In the ninth, the lefty got out Brandt on strikes and induced Triandos into grounding out before Nicholson ended the game with the pop-out.

"What a team to pitch a no-hitter against," said Belinsky after the feat, citing the irony that it was the Orioles who shipped him to the Angels, and the fact his minor league manager for three seasons in the Baltimore organization -- George Staller -- was forced to watch the proceedings from his vantage point in the first base coaching box.

Belinsky, in later years, recalled the moment with vivid distinction and pride.

"It was the whole scene," Belinsky reflected. "The magic of Los Angeles... Gene Autry and the Angels... the glamour of the West Coast... and, of course, the Angels being a young ball club. It sort of kicked off a pretty exciting year for us because, if you'll remember, we were only three games out of first place in September and that was against the Yankees when they were a magic team themselves in the early '60's"

The reminiscing continued.

"I had never come close (to a no-hitter before). I had trouble pitching a shutout... it was just a glamorous type of thing. The crowds weren't like they are today -- I think only 16,000 -- but they made it sound like there were 160,000 out there.

"It was a soft no-hitter. There was nothing real hard about it... but I knew it was inevitable, that it was going to happen. And then everything seemed to fall right in. It was nice pitching for Gene Autry and the Angels. It was just nice being on the Angels."

A no-hitter in his grasp, Belinsky amusingly reviewed the final out.

"The funny part about it was the fact Felix Torres was on third base and Felix Torres wasn't known for his defensive play. As a matter of fact, he used to wear a batting helmet on third base.

"Anyway, my first reaction when the ball went up, and I mean Nicholson hit a ball that was a mile high, and the first thing that came to my mind was, "be foul." But Torres circled the ball and I think he caught it right on the line, so if it had dropped without him touching it, it would have been a hit.

"But I remember it being hit so high and all I could think about was, "Torres, don't lose your batting helmet now."

"It was an exciting time, one of the highlights of my career."

Dean Chance wins The Cy Young Award

The year was 1964, and it was magic. The magician's name was Dean Chance. The stage on which the 23-year-old artist performed his act was the pitching mound. He was so good at this trade he often perplexed the entire American League.

Actually, when the year began there was little to indicate it was going to be special for Chance. In '62, his rookie campaign, he showed promise by winning 14 games in 24 decisions. However, the following year he went 13-18 with little support offensively.

Chance spent a good portion of the '63 off-season washing windows at a local gas station in Wooster, Ohio to supplement his meager income. He also entered spring training camp with a strep throat, falling more than a month behind his teammates in terms of conditioning.

Chance won his first game -- an 8-3 decision against Detroit on April 17 -- but was only 5-5 at the All-Star Break. His ERA of 2.19 indicated the blame lay not with his pitchiing so much as the team's lack of run production.

It was precisely at this point, however, when Chance's fortunes began to turn. Named by Chicago White Sox Manager Al Lopez to start the All-Star Game, the 6-3, 200-pounder proceeded to hurl three scoreless innings against the National League surrendering two hits while striking out two. Although the NL came back to win the contest 7-4, Chance, perhaps inspired by his performance -- as well as a $7,000 raise he received in early July, bringing his total earnings to $25,000 -- appeared ready to wage an all-out assault on the second half of the season.

Chance returned to league competition by winning nine straight games from July 11 through August 18. During the streak, Chance posted six shutouts (four by the score of 1-0), allowed only seven earned runs in 79 innings, struck out 61, and posted a spectacular 0.80 ERA.

Even more impressive was the way the Angels' dean handled the feared Bronx Bombers -- the same Yankees that would go on to represent the American League in the '64 World Series.

In an incredible show of dominance, Chance started five games against New York winning four. In one game, he hurled 14 scoreless innings without a decision. During 50 innings of work, the run-stingy Chance permitted the Yankees one run. That's right, one run, and that occurred July 28 when Mickey Mantle connected on a 3-2 fastball that hit the top of the right field fence and bounced over.

For the season, Chance's ERA against the Yankees was a miniscule 0.18. The rest of the numbers Chance fashioned in 1964 were equally impressive:

A Major League-high 11 shutouts.
Five 1-0 victories, tying a Major League record.
Four 1-0 losses.
Five two-hitters, one three-hitter, four four-hitters and one five-hitter, not to mention a pair of saves.
A 20-9 record, including a 15-4 second half.
A 1.65 ERA, tops in the majors.
15 complete games, again, a Major League high.
All this and perhaps the most amazing statistic of all was in 278 1/3 innings of work, opponents scored runs in only 35 of them. Chance had thrown 243 1/3 scoreless frames.
For his efforts, Chance was named winner of the Cy Young Award. He received 17 of a possible 20 first-place votes in becoming the youngest player ever to receive baseball's most coveted honor for a pitcher.
He also secured a special place in Angels history, where his name is etched forever.

The Angels move to Anaheim Stadium

After spending a year at cozy Wrigley Field (seating capacity 20,500), and four seasons as tenants at Dodger Stadium, the Angels christened Anaheim Stadium April 9, 1966 with an exhibition game against the San Francisco Giants.

The Giants clobbered the Halos that day, outscoring them 9-3 before 40,474 in attendance. The Angels evened their record the following day, however, when Jim Fregosi homered in the 10th inning to beat the Giants, 6-5. Earlier in the game, Willie Mays hit the first home run ever in Anaheim Stadium.

Now that they had a home of their own, Gene Autry's crew would no longer be know as the Los Angeles Angels. The name was officially changed to the California Angels.

Autry himself wielded the first shovel at the Big A's groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 31, 1964. After the team's first season in 1961, the owner had signed a four-year lease, with an option for three additional years, to play at Walter O'Malley's spacious new stadium at Chavez Ravine. In doing so, Autry was forced to make a number of financial concessions -- but that wasn't the only problem. The Dodgers were established pennant contenders, while the Angels were an expansion team. The difference showed up in the attendance figures. By the time the Angels played their next-to-last game in Dodger Stadium - a 4-2 loss to Baltimore - only 945 showed up to watch.

All that changed with the completion of the Angels' $24 million stadium, built on 157 acres of land which previously grew alfalfa, oranges and corn. Season ticket sales for 1966 nearly doubled from the previous year, rising from 2,600 to more than 5,000.

The Angels played their first regular season game at the Big A on April 19, losing to the Chicago White Sox, 3-1, before 31,660 in attendance. The winning pitcher was Tommy John, who scattered three hits over seven innings. The Halos reached the scoreboard in the second inning when left fielder Rick Reichardt belted the first regular season home run to inaugurate the Big A.

"I threw the ball well, but I always pitched well against the Angels, even though my record may not have shown it," John reminisced later. "We didn't have a good hitting ball club when I was with the White Sox, but we had good pitching and so did the Angels. Every time we played them it was a low-scoring game.

"The White Sox and Angels always played close, low-scoring games. We came in knowing we could hold the other team to three or four runs. It was fun to come out here to play because it was so beautiful. Anaheim Stadium reminded me of Dodger Stadium, with its red dirt infield," he continued. "I thought it was much, much better when the stadium was not enclosed -- it kind of reminded me of Kansas City's park, which is smaller seat-wise, but has 90 percent of the seats between the foul poles."

With the season under way, fans turned out in droves. Attendance nearly tripled, Skyrocketing from 566,727 in 1965 to 1,400,321 in '66. Only five players from the original expansion draft in 1961 made the move to Anaheim -- Dean Chance, Fred Newman, Bob Rodgers, Jim Fregosi and Albie Pearson. Bill Rigney, the Angels' first manager, remained at the helm.

Said Rigney when asked years later about it, "the first chill I ever received in this game came when I walked into the Polo Grounds for the first time. I received another when I walked into this park."

The new California Angels were to develop stars of their own, as well as trade for promising young prospects and dependable veterans. Following those players who were part of the transition came such favorites as pitchers Minnie Rojas, Clyde Wright, George Brunet, Rudy May, Jim McGlothlin, Andy Messersmith, Frank Tanana, Dave Laroche and Mark Clear, among others; and hitting stars like Jay Johnstone, Sandy Alomar, Ken McMullen, Dave Chalk, Dave Collins and Carney Lansford.

Alex Johnson wins the Batting Title

The Angels acquired Johnson (along with utility infielder Chico Ruiz) from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for pitchers Jim McGlothlin, Vern Geishert and Pedro Borbon during the winter of 1969.

In securing Johnson, the Angels knew they were getting a talented player, a batter who had hit .315 and .312 in his last two seasons with the Reds. They also knew Johnson had a reputation for moodiness, a trigger like temper and an ability for creating stormy confrontations.

During the two short seasons Johnson spent with the Halos, he lived up to both expectations.

In 1970, Johnson became the first (and only) Angel ever to win a batting title when he edged Boston's Carl Yastrzemski on the last day of the season. The date was Oct. 1, 1970. The place, Anaheim Stadium. The opponent, the Chicago White Sox.

Johnson entered the contest needing two hits in no more than three at bats to wrest the batting crown from Yastrzemski. And he immediately complicated his task by grounding out in his first trip to the plate.

However, Johnson followed with a single to right in the third inning, thus setting the stage for a dramatic at bat in the fifth. "I didn't feel any pressure," he said of the moment. "I knew I had a big job to do."

And he wasted little time in accomplishing it.

On Jerry Janeski's first pitch, Johnson sent a high bouncer over third base that was backhanded by Bill Melton. The White Sox third baseman arched a long throw across the diamond but Johnson managed to cross the bag by more than a stride before the ball reached first base.

Soon after, manager Lefty Phillips sent in Jay Johnstone as a pinch-runner; he knew Johnson had edged Yastrzemski by a .0003 margin - .3289 to .3286.

"This is my biggest individual achievement," Johnson would say later. "The silver bat will be an elegant addition to my trophy case. I think I'll put it in my tropy case and let it do my talking."

During that 1970 campaign, Johnson recorded a pair of four-hit games, had three-hit outings nine times and a whopping 55 two-hit performances. In the 156 games in which he appeared, Johnson failed to get at least one hit on only 34 occasions.

He climaxed the year by hitting .381 (43/133) in the month of September, including a sizzling .468 (22/47) during the last 12 games. A model of consistency, he hit .327 at home and .331 on the road. His average was .329 prior to the All-Star Game, and .330 after.

"Winning the batting title is the biggest achievement of my life," Johnson said proudly. Alas, it would be his lone achievement as an Angel.

Immediately following a 1971 season plagued by fines, suspensions, discontent, unfulfilled promise, lack of hustle and strained nerves -- which alienated both his teammates and writers -- Johnson was traded to the Cleveland Indians.

• Mac Angels Tickets

• Angels Tickets

• Angels Schedule

• Baseball Directory

Mac Angels Tickets anounces that Angels baseball tickets went on sale macintosh anglels tickets

Mac Angels Tickets anounces that Angels baseball tickets went on sale macintosh anglels tickets