The movie was a riotous and actually rather touching gesture toward Angels baseball. Their history interests me partly because their year of inception, 1961, was the same as for "my" team, the Minnesota Twins. There is a distinction: the Angels were a pure and raw expansion team, while the Twins were transplanted from Washington D.C.
The Twins owner was Calvin Griffith, hailed as a hero then, being wiped from Minnesota history now. The problem is in line with Confederate statues. The statue of Griffith was recently literally removed from Target Stadium grounds. All of this stuff is happening so fast. Griffith's words on their face had no defense, from an appearance at an outstate Minnesota service club. "Outstate" in Minnesota means outside the Twin Cities. Something else about our state: Minneapolis is not assumed to have primacy as the "big city."
The delicate relationship of Minneapolis with across-the-river St. Paul was such that, in 1961 there was no way our team was going to be named for a city. It was a given for it to be "Minnesota." And "Twins" was a reference to the "twin towns" as we call them: Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The Angels baseball team has been through rather an adventure or roller coaster with acknowledging physical locations. In my mind they'll always be "Los Angeles Angels" because that was first.
Maybe stick with habit?
It's disturbing when familiar names from sports have to get tweaked IMHO.
Example: Curt Gowdy once learned that to be technically correct with the name "Tony Perez," the accent in the last name should be on the first syllable, not the second. I found it irritating as he kept emphasizing his "revisionist" treatment. Maybe I resented how he seemed to feel we had to be lectured. I don't think the "new" pronunciation caught on.
And did you know the correct last name for the Alou boys should have been "Rojas?" Something about a cultural misunderstanding. I would have struggled converting those guys to "Rojas." When I think of Rojas I think of "Cookie" Rojas. Remember when Cookie and Bobby Wine were in the same infield with the Phillies? A wise guy talked about "days of Wine and Rojas."
IMHO the Alous had to be Alous, a famed sibling tandem from the Dominican Republic, outstanding players and people.
The (true) West beckoned
Not sure if the following is a legend or fact or a kind of hybrid, but talks began as early as 1940 for MLB to reach Los Angeles. Can you believe in the old days "a trip west" meant St. Louis or Kansas City? I am surprised the prosperous West Coast had to wait until 1958.
Old baseball movies show us the one-time norm of transportation: the rails. Time on the train would build camaraderie I'm sure. And going all the way west, I mean all the way, was not going to be practiced this way. Teams have demanding schedules. And once commercial flight got established, I imagine it was not routine for some time. Not only that, it was scary, I mean with propeller planes. I was reminded of this in a documentary about John Dillinger. Some G-men made a plane trip with some trepidation. And you thought "Striker" was scared on a modern day passenger jet?
Anyway, the legend of the '40s overtures for big league ball has the St. Louis Browns making feelers for relocation. Reportedly there was a "request for permission" to move. Reportedly it was denied. But the story continues with a proposal for the Browns to move for the '42 season, a dream that got nixed pretty decisively by a complication: World War II.
Fast-forward to 1953 and the Browns were again the focus for speculation or gossip. But the team got sold and landed comfortably on the East Coast in Baltimore. Welcome the Orioles. Griffith's Washington Senators began acting restless and eyed L.A. Speaking of gossip, word circulated that maybe the Athletics' move from Philadelphia to Kansas City was a way station en route to L.A.
Push all these teams aside. Los Angeles would have the welcome mat out for the Dodgers. But wouldn't they always be the "Brooklyn" Dodgers? "Dem Bums?" Brooklyn fans themselves knew the end was coming. The certainty was because of urban planning and priorities in NYC.
The Dodgers sought to lock up the L.A. market and probably would have succeeded, had MLB not become fearful of a new league taking root: the proposed Continental League. MLB took expansion steps in '60: two new teams in each league.
MLB had wanted only to expand to cities previously without MLB. However, the upstart Continental League was eyeing the "plum" of NYC which had lost the Dodgers and Giants. MLB wanted to cling to that plum. So the National League got the Mets and Los Angeles got the Angels.
Movie star to fore in L.A.!
What excitement as fans learned a genuine movie star, Gene Autry, was going to own the new Angels! "The Angels" is a literal translation of the Spanish "Los Angeles."
Griffith took his Senators with Harmon Killebrew to Minnesota where they'd play on the suburban prairie, quite literally prairie at the time, outside the "twin towns" and not one inch closer to one than the other. A new "Senators" team was created to keep a team in the nation's capital. The "new" Senators seemed never very interesting, although Ted Williams as manager got a bouquet.
The Angels? By expansion standards they were OK if not scintillating. Boy, MLB sure made it a challenge for new teams to get decent talent. What if the Mets had won even fewer than 40 games? Could have happened.
Curtain rises for Angels
We always look through a fond sentimental lens at the first year of an expansion team. The 1961 maiden voyage of the Los Angeles Angels saw them win 70 games and lose 91 under manager Bill Rigney. The general manager was Fred Haney. General managers could sort of ride herd over players in those days. Ever read "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton?
The Angels played at Wrigley Field, a name that bothers me because I've always associated it with Chicago. But Wrigley it was. Alas, neither the expansion novelty, nor the fact of playing in such a populous area, was a boon for attendance. The Angels were tenth of ten in the A.L. The Twins were much more entrancing in their new environs - I was there (albeit six years old) and I remember. Bob Allison! That's of the Twins. He had an All-American boy image.
Think back to the early Angels and you might think Albie Pearson. He was a diminutive guy but he played bigger to do quite well in '61, seeming as rather a signature player. The little guy played in 144 games, amassed 427 at-bats, batted a fine .288 and with eleven stolen bases. Not a power merchant.
More on my podcast
Albie Pearson is the focus for a podcast supplement to today's post. My podcast is called "Morris Mojo" for Morris, Minnesota. Here is the permalink for the fond reminiscences:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Albie-Pearson-of-the-Angels-eijv74
I see the name Earl Averill and I'm perplexed because I associate that name with the seemingly "caveman times" of pre-WWII baseball. No, it's not that Earl Averill, the senior probably remembered more for ending Dizzy Dean's run as a top MLB pitcher, than for his quite impressive talents. But remember, those were segregated times. An asterisk always, probably a pregnant one. Suppose you can't blame the guys themselves.
The senior Averill hit a line drive in the All-Star Game that broke Dean's toe. Dean wilted after that.
So we're talking the younger Earl Averill, "Junior" with the 1961 Los Angeles Angels. He performed well. He wore the catcher's gear. He batted .266, in line with many of the best catchers, and hit a pretty impressive 21 home runs in 323 at-bats. The top infielders were Steve Bilko at first, Ken Aspromonte at second, Joe Koppe at short and Eddie Yost at third. No household names there.
Veteran Ted Kluzewski plied his skills, perhaps still with his famous "bare arms" (giving a musclebound look). Rocky Bridges saw a fair amount of action. Three pitchers had double figures win totals: Ken McBride, Eli Grba and Ted Bowsfield. Dean Chance was just coming up.
I remember all these names from baseball cards! Hey, the famed Ryne Duren, he of the sunglasses and sometimes wild deliveries in warm-ups (to intimidate) was on the team. Plus, Art Fowler, Ron Kline, Jim Donahue and Tom Morgan. I recall Kline being the "goat" of the Twins' failure to capture the A.L. pennant in 1967. We fizzled at the end vs. Boston. I believe Kline dished up a gopher ball to George Scott. I felt more pain with that setback than with the Twins' failure in Game 7 of the '65 Series. We had an excuse in the Series: we were facing Sandy Koufax!
The Angels went through a bit of schizophrenia with location and nomenclature. "My" preferred name of Los Angeles Angels was in effect from '61 to '64 and was retrieved from mothballs for 2016. It continues through the present - warms my heart. I remember wondering why the name had to become "California Angels" starting in 1965. So, the team was like Minnesota: named for a state. "California" would have a very long run, but in 1997 we saw Anaheim elbow its way in. I could have shrugged. "Anaheim Angels" was the name 1997-2004.
A low point was reached with a name that was cumbersome and seemed a political sop: "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim," 2005-2015. Finally "Los Angeles Angels" made its triumphant return.
I have never cared for the alternate name "Halos" which I put in a category like "Twinkies" for Twins.
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| Albie Pearson, Marilyn Monroe! |
The team is very close to .500 for its all-time won-lost. The franchise has one pennant and one world championship. They have made ten playoff appearances. Boy, the 60 total seasons seem to have gone by quickly!
I can still remember Albie Pearson and what he contributed at the start. So that's why I have written my own song lyrics for a tune I call "Albie Pearson Got It Done." The verse part is meant to be done narration style, no melody, while the chorus is sung. Sort of like the '70s hit "Convoy" by C.W. McCall.
The lyrics originally appeared in my January 25, 2016, post on my "I Love Morris" blog site. That post focused on Pearson. I'm happy to refresh these song lyrics!
"Albie Pearson Got It Done"
by Brian Williams
The Angels came to play their game in 1961
A whole new team to chase their dreams in the L.A. sun
A little man would take command with that fledgling crew
Running fast on outfield grass, swinging hard and true
Fans would rise and memorize the Albie Pearson name
Looking large on their scorecards as they watched each game
Big league ball was standing tall there on that West Coast
Taking planes instead of trains made our nation close
CHORUS:
Albie Pearson got it done back in 1961
Wowing fans in La-La Land
He expressed the city's brand
Playing great in his home state
Making baseball shine first rate
Win or lose they brought us fun
Albie Pearson got it done
Giants, Dodgers felt the urge, leaving NYC
Yankees were the only team not a memory
Ebbets Field was gone for real, New York sang the blues
Polo Grounds would hang around 'til the Mets were news
Willie Mays would see new days by the Bay so grand
Sandy Koufax was the max in his newfound land
Fans were glad the Angels had stars to cheer on too
Not enough to really strut, but they could come through
Ken McBride could find his stride on the pitching mound
Earl Averill gave us thrills, hitting homers loud
Albie shone in his new home - what a neighborhood
All those beaches within reach, close to Hollywood
(repeat chorus)
The owner's box was all the talk with that singing gent
From the screen he owned that team, knowing what it meant
Fans could see ol' Gene Autry staying right on course
So beloved in cinema, singing from his horse
With halos on, the team built bonds, hearty all the way
Cheers and shouts were heard throughout Californi-aye
Looking good in Hollywood, up on that marquee
On a par with movie stars, sharing in that scene
They were in where Errol Flynn flashed his shining sword
Where the reign of ol' John Wayne was the town's last word
Rod Carew would join that crew, hitting in his prime
With Gene Mauch he kept his stock elevated high
Years go by and yet we strive to recoup the past
We recall the old baseball, Albie and that cast
Leon Wagner hit with verve, causing quite the buzz
We recall his moniker: "Daddy Wags" it was
We recall his moniker: "Daddy Wags" it was
The team today just comes to play, 55 years old
Looking good like Albie would, confident and bold
Fans would chant to see this man so diminutive
He just played real hard each day, all that he could give
(repeat chorus) |
| He's a high-profile Christian too |
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