edison international field

In 1964 the Los Angeles Angels broke ground for Edison International Field (then called Anaheim Stadium), a $24-million ballpark built on 140 acres. The Candy Cane Inn serves as a fine hotel near Edison International Field, for any sporting event. 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. Edison International Field 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 ALCS.

On April 3, 1996, the city of Anaheim and the Walt Disney Corporation agreed on a deal that will keep the Angels in Anaheim until at least the year 2018. Disney committed $88 million and the city $30 million to a three-year renovation of Edison International Field 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 Disney operates the stadium and retains all monies until agreed income thresholds are met. The agreement calls for the Angels to lease Edison International Field 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 Disney has agreed to allow the city to build a football stadium next to the ballpark.

Trivia:

• Name changed to Edison International Field in 1997 under a $50 million, 20-year sponsorship deal.
• A.K.A. Big A (1966), Bigger A (1980), Big Ed (1998).
• Huge, 230-foot-high letter "A" stood behind the fence in left field as a scoreboard support until 1980, then was moved to the parking lot. The letter had a gold halo at its top.
• Four farms - Camille Allec’s 39 acres of orange and eucalyptus trees; Roland Reynolds’ 70 acres of alfalfa; John Knutgen’s 20 acres of corn; Bill Ross and George Lenney’s 19 acres of corn - previously were on the site of the current stadium.
• Sections 69 and 70 in center field were covered by green canvas batters’ background.
• Two thin black TV cables ran in fair territory on the warning track from the left field corner bullpen gate to the foul pole, then along the wall in foul territory about 50 feet toward third base, and then into the stands.
• There were six doors located on an ivy-covered wall in deep left-center behind outfield fence labeled "warning track," "skin material," "screen clay mounds," "raw clay," "sand," and "equipment."
• Bullpens moved in 1998 from behind the wall 10 yards inside each foul pole to behind the left field wall.
• Outfield Extravaganza area, the signature piece of the ballpark, is located behind the outfield wall in left center-field. It was designed to model the rocky California coastline and comes to life with a 90-foot-high geyser, fireworks and pyrotechnics to celebrate great plays on the field.