Apr. 22, 1964 - Robert Reynolds, president of the Los Angeles Angels, said today that the American League club was committed to go ahead with plans to move the franchise to Anaheim, Calif., in 1966 if all the promises of the Orange County community are met.
Reynolds made his statement after conferring with Mayor Sam Yorty of Los Angeles, who had put out the suggestion that the empty Baldwin Hills Reservoir might be converted into a stadium for the Angels.
The American League club is currently playing its home games in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ stadium in Chavez Ravine and has a contract to remain there through the 1965 season.
Anaheim, located 28 miles from downtown Los Angeles, recently proposed building a $20 million stadium with a seating capacity of around 50,000 for the Angels if they would move.
Reynolds defended the possible move to Anaheim. “The location would not deprive most of the people who have been our fans of access to our games,” Reynolds said.
The franchise was founded in 1961 by Gene Autry as one of major league baseball’s first two expansion teams and the first to originate in California. Its name was derived from an earlier Los Angeles Angels franchise that played in the Pacific Coast League.
They originally wanted to play at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Dodgers had played on a temporary basis since moving from Brooklyn. However, Commissioner Ford Frick turned this idea down after concluding that the Coliseum’s extremely short left field fence (only 250 feet from the plate) made it unsuitable even as a temporary facility. In 1962, the Angels moved to Dodger Stadium, which they refer to as Chavez Ravine.
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