ANGELS STADIUM

On August 31st, 1964, the Los Angeles Angels broke ground for Angel Stadium (then called Anaheim Stadium), a $24-million ballpark built on 140 acres. The team changed its name to the California Angels in 1965, and the stadium opened its gates for the 1966 season, drawing a first-game crowd of 31,660. A 1979 renovation changed the stadium into a completely enclosed, multipurpose facility, suitable for both professional football and baseball. Angel Stadium has twice hosted the All-Star Game (1967, 1989), and finally hosted a World Series in 2002. The largest crowd in franchise history: 64,406, saw the Angels beat Milwaukee, 8-3, in Game 1 of the 1982 American League Championship Series. Opening Day came on April 19, 1966. The three tier stadium had 43,204 seats, that stretched from the right field foul pole to home plate, and around to the left field foul pole. Escalators, elevators, and ramps helped fans get to their multi-colored seats. Anaheim Stadium instantly became known as the "Big A", because of the A-frame scoreboard that was behind the outfield wall. It was 230 feet tall, and a $1 million giant halo topped the scoreboard. Original dimensions at Anaheim Stadium were 333 ft. (left), 404 ft. (center), and 333 ft. (right). On April 3, 1996, the city of Anaheim and the Angels (then owned by the Walt Disney Corporation) agreed on a deal that will keep the Angels in Anaheim until at least the year 2018. The Angels committed $88 million and the city $30 million to a three-year renovation of Angel Stadium to a more compact, baseball-only facility. The team changed its name to the Anaheim Angels for the 1997 season. The city provides 12,500 parking spaces on site for baseball and the Angels operate the stadium and retain all monies until agreed income thresholds are met. The agreement calls for the Angels to lease Angel Stadium for 33 years (3 for renovation and 30 for operation), but the team has the option to leave after 20 years of operation. Anaheim's plans for a sports and entertainment complex will be scaled back to 40 acres but the Angels agreed to allow the city to build a football stadium next to the ballpark. With the Rams departure and earthquake damage, many changes took place at the stadium. After the 1996 season, renovations began with the removal of all the outfield seats. Renovations continued throughout the 1997 season. Parts of the stadium remained closed during the 1997 season, thus making the capacity around 33,000. 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, and 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 green and a plaza was constructed outside the stadium with two giant Angel hats. The ballpark has many amenities including the Pepsi Perfect Game Pavilion, dugout level seating, and three club restaurants; The Knot Hole Club (sports bar located on the club level down the right filed line), The Diamond Club (an upscale restaurant with outdoor seating), and the Home plate Club (overlooks the main entrance of the ballpark).