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Home of the Los
Angeles Rams for 15 years, Anaheim Stadium continues to serve as
the home of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Long before the
Rams move to Anaheim Stadium, the California Angels (MLB) had been
playing at the stadium since 1966. After founding the Los Angeles
Angels (MLB) in 1960, owner Gene Autry decided to build a new
stadium for his team. Modeled after Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles,
Anaheim Stadium opened on on April 19, 1966. The three tier
stadium had 43,250 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 became known as the "Big A",
because of the A-frame scoreboard that was behind the outfield
wall.
After
playing at the Los Angeles Coliseum for more than 30 years, the
Rams announced in mid 1970s that they would move to Anaheim. This
decision was made because officials at the Los Angeles Coliseum
would not add luxury suites to the stadium. Originally the Rams
proposed moving to Dodger Stadium, but the Dodgers rejected this
idea. In December 1977 Anaheim proposed enlarging Anaheim Stadium
to seat 72,000 fans to woe the rams to the city. In order to
accommodate the Rams, Anaheim Stadium was enclosed increasing the
seating capacity to 65,158. Three tiers of seating now enclosed
the field. A new scoreboard was installed on the facade of the
outfield roof because the "Big A" was moved to the parking lot.
New executive and media boxes, along with a new sound system were
also added. The process to convert the stadium from baseball to
football was relatively simple. A section of seats were pulled
from behind what was the right field during a baseball game. The
Angels and Rams shared Anaheim Stadium for 15 years. After
attendance at Rams games dropped, owner Georgia Frontiere moved
the team to St. Louis after the 1994 season.
With
the Rams departure and earthquake damage, many changes took place
at Anaheim Stadium. After the 1996 season, renovations began with
the removal of all the outfield seats. Replacing the 20,000 plus
seats in the outfield are bleacher seats, a scoreboard, and
numerous other attractions. All of the multicolored seats were
replaced by green seats. Renovations also took place to the
exterior of the stadium. The concrete structure and ramps were
painted green. A plaza was constructed outside the stadium with
two giant Angel hats. Anaheim Stadium was renamed Edison
International Field in 1997. With a new capacity of 45,050, the
renovated stadium opened on April 1, 1998. In 2003, the stadium
was renamed Angel Stadium.
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