As a boy in Oklahoma Gene Autry loved playing baseball even if he wasn’t the greatest player I was always a frustrated ballplayer he once said Instead of playing ball as an adult Autry became an actor singer and businessman He gained fame as a singing cowboy in movies of the 1930s and 1940s Yet Autry never stopped loving baseball So in 1960 when the American League AL announced it would add two teams Autry put together a group to buy one of them The group paid 2 45 million for the expansion team The team was named the Los Angeles Angels A minor league team of the same name had played in Los Angeles from 1903 to 1957 Autry owned the team for 38 years He was known to fans as The Cowboy Players admired him for his love of the game His team played in Los Angeles from 1961 to 1965 Autry then moved the team to Anaheim for the 1966 season He changed the team’s name to the California Angels For years the Angels had little success But in the 1970s and 1980s Autry paid big money to a number of top free agents He brought in star sluggers such as Reggie Jackson Joe Rudi and Don Baylor The strategy worked The Angels reached the playoffs for the first time in 1979 Then they did so again in 1982 and 1986 But as long as Autry owned the team the Angels never reached the World Series Baseball has been the most exciting and frustrating experience of my life he said In the movies I never lost a fight In baseball I hardly ever won one THE COWBOY GETS A TEAM 1 4
26 Jersey number the Angels retired to honor Gene Autry in 1982 Major League Baseball MLB teams have 25 players Autry was the Angels honorary 26th player Gene Autry visits the Angels spring training in 1993 5
Expansion teams typically start with a lot of players other teams didn’t want So the first Los Angeles Angels team in 1961 was an odd mix of old stars and rookies The AL season is 162 games Some experts predicted the team wouldn’t win 50 of them The Angels had aging veterans Relief pitcher Ryne Duren had been an All-Star for the New York Yankees First baseman Ted Kluszewski had been a great power hitter for the Cincinnati Reds Third baseman Eddie Yost had many serviceable years for the Washington Senators But all were at least 32 years old in 1961 Kluszewski was in his final season at age 36 The veterans were thrown together with rookies such as pitcher Dean Chance catcher Bob Rodgers and shortstop Jim Fregosi The Angels Del Rice slides safely into home in a 1961 game against the New York Yankees THE ANGELS TAKE FLIGHT 2 6
We had a bunch of guys that no one else wanted said first baseman Lee Thomas Yet from their first game on April 11 in Baltimore the Angels were full of surprises In that game Kluszewski and former Yankee Bob Cerv hit home runs The Angels beat the Orioles 7 2 The Angels lost their next eight games But they were much better than expected The team went 45 44 to end the season It finished eighth in the AL ahead of two other teams The Angels had a 70 91 record It remains the best record by a first-year expansion team in major league history THINK ABOUT IT Expansion teams have to start from scratch If you were starting a team would you focus on getting young players who might struggle early but have long-term potential Or would you build your team with veteran players who are established but nearing the end of their careers Use examples from the book to explain your answer 86 Surprising victory total by the Angels in 1962 The Angels were in first place on the Fourth of July They finished the season third in the AL Angels slugger Ted Kluszewski in 1961 7
