There are five clubs in Major League Baseball. There are five MLB clubs in the state of California: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and the San Francisco Giants. The A's moved to Oakland in 1968, but all other teams have been around since 1871 or earlier.
The state's largest city has always had a major league team. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, it was assumed that another club would move here too. However, when the expansion Angels arrived in 1962, it took most of the attention and money from the baseball community. By 1976, when the Dodgers returned to Los Angeles, they had become America's favorite team. Today, they are just as popular as the Angels.
The Oakland A's were expected to bring in big crowds to see the best players from California in their home park. But instead of drawing fans to the ballpark, they drew complaints from local residents about crime and drug use in the area surrounding the team's old stadium. In 1972, after several years of complaints, the A's left Oakland for Seattle where they now play part of their season. The team's former owner, Charles Finley, owned several high-profile players back in the day, including Mickey Mantle with the Yankees and Reggie Jackson with the Red Sox.
California is home to five Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who play at Dodger Stadium near Downtown Los Angeles, are one of two clubs in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim play at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, which is located in Orange County near Disneyland. The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants both play in San Diego. In Oakland, California, the A's play in the East Bay, about 45 minutes away from San Francisco.
In addition to these three West Coast teams, California also has two Central Coast teams: The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. These two teams, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and New York Yankees, make up the so-called "Big Four" sports leagues in California.
The Oakland Athletics joined the American League in 1972 when they replaced the Seattle Mariners in what was then known as the "American League West". Since then, they have never finished below second place in their division. The A's have only failed to make the playoffs four times since they became full members of MLB in 1970. They won the AL West title in 1979, 1990, 1991, and 1992.
In 1998, the Athletics moved to Fremont, about 20 miles east of San Francisco, and renamed the team after its new city. They played their first game at their new stadium, Network Associates Coliseum, on April 13th against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The farm system of the Los Angeles Dodgers comprises of seven minor league baseball affiliates spread between the United States and the Dominican Republic. Three clubs are individually owned, while four are controlled by the big league club (the Oklahoma City Dodgers, Arizona League Dodgers, and two Dominican Summer League Dodgers squads). The seven organizations combine to form what is widely regarded as one of the best systems in all of baseball.
The Dodgers first affiliated themselves with a minor league team in 1948 when they joined the Class B Montreal Canadiens of the New York-Penn League. Over the next six years, the team would move up one class each season until finishing out their time with the top professional baseball league in the country, the Major Leagues, in 1954. Since then, they have not returned to the minors until 1993, when they admitted into the now-defunct Pacific Coast League as an expansion team. The Dodgers remained in Portland for three seasons before moving on to San Diego where they now play in downtown Los Angeles.
Since its inception, the organization has been successful at developing talent that has helped them win five World Series titles between 1955 and 1981. Some of the most notable names that came through the system include Hall of Fame players Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, Fernando Valenzuela, and more recently Bryce Harper, Max Scherzer, Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen, and Corey Seager.
See Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the baseball team. The Los Angeles Angels farm system includes seven minor league baseball affiliates located in the United States and the Dominican Republic. Five of the clubs are privately owned, while the other two, the Arizona League Angels and the Dominican Summer League Angels, are owned by the big league club. The low minors are composed of the Class A-Short Season Vermont Angels, who play home games at Vernon Park in Burlington, Vermont; and the Class A South Atlantic League Gulf Coast Angels, who play their home games at Family Stadium on the campus of The University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
The high minors are made up of three clubs: the Class A-Advanced California Angels, who play their home games at Angel Stadium of Anaheim; the Double-A Eastern Division Texas Rangers, who play their home games at Globe Life Park in Arlington; and the Triple-A Pacific Coast League Angels, who play their home games at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The best young players from each level are promoted to help fill out the roster of the major league team.
The organization has had many successful years during its time in Southern California, with five American League West titles and one World Series title in 2002. The Angels currently play in what is called "Anaheim Stadium" or just "Angel Stadium", which is a trademark of the team. The current stadium was built in 1994 and has a capacity of 43,000.
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