Angel Stadium, originally Anaheim Stadium and later Edison
International Field, is a Major League Baseball stadium located in
Anaheim, California, and home to the Anaheim Angels of the American
League. The stadium is often referred to by its unofficial nickname The
Big A.
Left
Field - 330 ft (100.5 m)
Left-Center - 387 ft (118.0 m)
Center Field - 400 ft (121.9 m)
Right-Center - 370 ft (112.8 m)
Right-Center (shallow) - 365 ft (111.3
m)
Right Field - 330 ft (100.5 m)
Backstop - 60.5 ft (18.4 m)
History
Angel Stadium has been the home of the Angels since their move from Los
Angeles. In 1964, ground was broken for Anaheim Stadium and in 1966, the
Angels, then California Angels, moved into their new home after having
spent four seasons renting Chavez Ravine Stadium (later simply known as
Dodger Stadium) from the Dodgers.
The stadium was built on a flat land parcel of about 160 acres
originally used for agricultural purposes in the southeast portion of
Anaheim, California, near the intersection of three freeways. Arrowhead
Pond of Anaheim, home to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim National Hockey
League franchise, was later built near the stadium. The parking lot,
unlike that of Chavez Ravine Stadium is flat, and escalators and ramps
convey patrons to their seats on four levels, a practice that is similar
to that of most stadiums. The original seating capacity was 43,204,
although about 3,000 bleacher seats were added in the outfield for the All-Star
Game in 1967 (this was the longest All-Star Game of all time, won by
the National League 2-1 in 15 innings on a solo home run by the Cincinnati
Reds' Tony Perez).
Fly
to the Anaheim Stadium!
If you have Google
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to be "flown" to the site of Anaheim Stadium. (If you do
not have it installed, get
it from Google. It allows you to view virtually anywhere on
Earth in 3D using satellite imagery.)
The general shape of the playing field was very similar to their previous
home, except for having somewhat less foul territory. The seemingly
over-precise dimensions (333 feet instead of 330, for example) were
derived from a scientific study conducted by the Angels to try to
formulate dimensions that were fairly balanced between pitcher, hitter and
average weather conditions. The Angels tinkered with those dimensions
several times, expanding or contracting parts of the outfield by a few
feet here and there, to try to refine that balance. It seemed to help
pitcher Nolan Ryan, whose astonishing record of 7 career no-hitters
included 2 in this ballpark, and who racked up 2,416 of his incredible
5,714 career strikeouts record in a mere 8 seasons with the Angels.
Although this stadium was primarily known as a baseball park through
the Super70s, it has hosted high school and college football games,
National Football League pre-season games, the short-lived World
Football League, and musical concerts featuring such acts as the
Rolling Stones and Madonna. An urban legend that persists, although it has
never been proved, has it that marijuana seeds left on the outfield grass
by concert-goers sprouted into full-grown plants which had to be uprooted
and destroyed by ground crews.
In the late 1970s, Los Angeles Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom brokered a
deal by which the Rams would move from Los Angeles to an expanded Anaheim
Stadium. To add more seats (eventually about 23,000) for football games,
the stadium was enclosed, with the mezzanine and upper decks extended
completely around the playing field. An elevated bank of bleachers was
built in right field, and temporary seats were placed underneath, to be
pulled out for football games. Another bank of bleachers was built in left
field. As a result, the view of the local mountains and State Highway 57
was lost. Additionally, the 23-story, 240-ton Big A scoreboard that had
stood in left field, and from whence the nickname for the stadium
originated, was moved 1300 feet to the parking lot. A black and white
scoreboard/instant replay video board was installed above the newly
constructed upper deck seats in left field, but was later deemed
inadequate, especially during day games. (In 1988 the scoreboard was
replaced by a Sony Jumbotron color
video board, with black and white matrix scoreboards installed above the
right field upper deck and the infield upper deck.) The expansion was
completed in time for the 1980
NFL season, and the Rams played in Anaheim Stadium from then until
their move to St. Louis after the 1994 season. Most famous among the Los
Angeles Rams players who played here was running back Eric Dickerson, who
became the second player in NFL history to run for over 2,000 yards in a
season in 1984.
The January 17, 1994 Northridge earthquake that was centered in the
community of Northridge, in the San Fernando Valley area of the city of
Los Angeles, caused the Sony Jumbotron to collapse onto the upper deck
seats beneath it. Fortunately, the earthquake occurred in the predawn
hours of a national holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) and the stadium
was unoccupied, so nobody was hurt. The monitor was reinstalled directly
on the back of the upper deck stands.
In 1996, the City of Anaheim and The Walt Disney Company, owner of the
Angels at the time, agreed to a new deal that would keep the Angels in
Anaheim until 2031, with an option to leave the facility early in 2018. As
part of the deal, the stadium would undergo an extensive renovation,
returning the stadium to its original role as a baseball-only facility.
The section of the stadium behind the outfield wall was demolished,
replaced by smaller outfield pavilions and a large water fountain. Disney
briefly considered moving the Big A scoreboard to its original location,
but decided against such a move, citing costs. Despite the fact that much
of the stadium was still a hard-hat zone, the demolition and construction
being only half-completed, the Angels played their 1997 season in Anaheim.
Fans arriving to the newly named Edison Field were greeted to a restored
view of the San Gabriel and Santa Ana Mountains, the Brea Hills, and the
57 freeway beyond the outfield.
Edison
Field!
Opening Day 2003, a
game featuring the defending World Series
champion Anaheim Angels and the Texas
Rangers.
Photo
by DOD (Staff Sgt. Chad McMeen)
The field dimensions of the renovated stadium became somewhat
asymmetrical, with the 8-foot high fence in right center field, which
earlier hid a bank of temporary bleachers that were pulled out from under
the upper levels for football games, replaced by a 19-foot high wall which
contains a scoreboard displaying out-of-town scores of other games. A
plaza was built around the perimeter of the stadium, and inside are
statues depicting longtime Angel owner and chairman Gene Autry and
Michelle Carew, daughter of former Angel Rod Carew (who also played for
the Minnesota Twins), who died of leukemia at the age of 17.
Primary
research by Jim Herdman & David Vincent
Courtesy of Retrosheet.
Replacing the 20,000 seats in the outfield are bleacher seats, a video
display board, an out of town scoreboard below the right field seats, a
"California Spectacular" in which geysers erupt and a stream
cascades down a mountainside covered with real trees, artificial rocks
behind the left-center field fence, and new bullpens. All of the
multicolored seats were replaced by green seats. The exterior of the
stadium was also renovated. The concrete structure and ramps were painted
a very Southern California combination of green and sandstone. Much of the
facade of the stadium was torn down to create more open feeling for
visitors. The new main entrance includes two giant Angel hats and a
complete-sized brick infield with a regulation pitchers mound. Many
families enjoy a game of catch here before entering the ballpark.
In 1997 a sponsorship deal was reached with Edison International,
giving it the naming rights over the stadium for 20 years, and during this
time, the stadium was referred to as the Big Ed. However, after the
2003 season, Edison International exercised its option to exit the
sponsorship deal. On December 29, 2003, the Angels announced that from
then on the stadium would be known as Angel Stadium (in full, Angel
Stadium of Anaheim), although locals still refer to the stadium as Anaheim
Stadium, and its original nickname The Big A was restored.
The field was host to Major League Baseball's
All-Star Game in 1967 (the first All-Star Game to be played on
prime-time television, although two All-Star Games were played at night
during World War II) and again in 1989. It hosted three American League
Division Series (2002, 2004, and 2005) and five American League
Championship Series (1979, 1982, 1986, 2002, and 2005). Most notably, it
hosted the 2002 World Series, which the Angels won in dramatic fashion
over the San Francisco Giants, finally winning one for their late and
long-time owner, "Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry.
Famous individual baseball milestones attained here include Mickey
Mantle's last game-winning home run, Nolan Ryan's striking out of nine
straight Boston Red Sox, Reggie Jackson's 500th career home run and Rod
Carew's 3,000th career base hit.
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