What Baseball Team Did Gene Autry Own?

Did you know that the legendary “Singing Cowboy” Gene Autry was once the owner of a Major League Baseball team? Learn more about this fascinating fact, as well as other interesting tidbits about the life of Gene Autry.

The Anaheim Angels

The Anaheim Angels are an American professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball as a member club of the American League West division. They have played their home games at Angel Stadium of Anaheim since 1966.

History of the team

Gene Autry, the singing cowboy star of movies and television, was the original owner of the Anaheim Angels baseball team. The team began as the Los Angeles Angels in 1961, and was one of the original teams in the American League West division. In 1965, the Angels moved to Anaheim, California and became the California Angels. The team was renamed the Anaheim Angels in 1996.

The Angels have won nine division titles, five American League pennants, and one World Series championship. The 2002 World Series championship was the first and only time a Wild Card team has ever won a World Series. The Angels are currently owned by Arte Moreno.

Gene Autry’s ownership

In 1961, (the same year the Los Angeles Angels were formed) Autry was approached by Dodger owner Walter O’Malley about buying the expansion franchise that would eventually become the Angels. Autry’s first choice for the name of his new team was the Hollywood Stars, in keeping with his long association with Hollywood. However, he was unable to obtain the rights to that name from Gilmore Enterprises, which had owned a Hollywood-based minor league team called the Stars from 1903 to 1957. Gilmore Enterprises was owned by Philip K. Wrigley, who also owned the Chicago Cubs; Wrigley offered Autry the use of the Cubs’ minor league affiliate in Los Angeles, also called the Angels, as well as their stadium, Wrigley Field in South Los Angeles.

In October 1961, Autry agreed to buy the Los Angeles franchise in major league baseball’s 1962 expansion for $2 million ($16 million today). The American League added two teams for 1962 (the other being the new Washington Senators), which doubled major league baseball’s size at that time. At the time of his death in 1998, Autry’s heirs still owned 20 percent of what had become – through a 1994 merger – today’s Anaheim Angels.

The Los Angeles Angels

Gene Autry was a famous American singer, actor, and businessman who owned several businesses throughout his life. One of these businesses was the Los Angeles Angels, a Major League Baseball team. The Angels were originally founded in 1961 as the Los Angeles Angels, but they changed their name to the California Angels in 1965. They changed their name again in 1997 to the Anaheim Angels, and finally in 2005 to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The team is currently owned by Arte Moreno.

History of the team

In 1961, Gene Autry, the famed Hollywood Cowboy and owner of Golden West Broadcasting, purchased the Angels from Phil Wrigley for $3.5 million. The team played its home games at Chavez Ravine, which was also home to Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1964, the Angels moved to Dodger Stadium.

The Angels’ name was derived from Autry’s hit song “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky”. The team finished in last place in its first season, but improved to seventh place by 1966. When the American League expanded to 12 teams for the 1961 season, each existing club was allowed to protect eight players on its roster from being drafted by the incoming teams.

The following year, the Angels sent four players-including future Hall of Famers Bob Lemon and Earl Averill-to Cleveland in exchange for three pitchers, one of whom was Early Wynn. The trade paid immediate dividends as Wynn won the Cy Young Award in 1962, leading the American League with 23 wins. The Angels also received shortstop Chico Ruiz as part of the deal; he would play a critical role on the 1963 team that won a then-franchise record 102 games.

Gene Autry’s ownership

Gene Autry was the owner of the Los Angeles Angels baseball team from 1961 until his death in 1998. The team was then sold toThe Walt Disney Company, which owned the team until 2003. The team is currently owned by Arte Moreno.

The Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team that compete in the American League West Division. The team is currently owned by Chuck Greenberg. Prior to Greenberg, the team was owned by Hall of Fame inductee and legendary cowboy actor, Gene Autry.

History of the team

The Texas Rangers are a Major League Baseball team based in Arlington, Texas, located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. They compete in the American League West division. Since 1994, the Rangers have played in Globe Life Park in Arlington. The team’s name is borrowed from the famous law enforcement agency of the same name.

The franchise was established in 1961 as the Washington Senators, an expansion team awarded to Washington, D.C., after the city’s first American League baseball team—the second Washington Senators—moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. After relocating to Arlington, Texas, for the 1972 season, the renamed Rangers advanced to the postseason three times between 1995 and 1999. The team then went into a period of rebuilding; while they made the playoffs every year between 2000 and 2009, they only made it beyond the first round once (in 2010). In 2010, they brought home their first American League pennant after beating out the defending World Series champions, the New York Yankees, in six games during the AL Championship Series. They then brought home their first World Series championship that same year by defeating the San Francisco Giants 4–1 in seven games during Major League Baseball’s Fall Classic event.

Gene Autry’s ownership

In 1961, Autry bought a minority interest in the Angels, becoming the first baseball player to invest in a team. In 1964 he increased his stake to 33 percent, becoming the largest shareholder. He put together a group that included Bob Reynolds and James Monroe, which bought the team from Philip K. Wrigley for $2 million. Wrigley owned both the Angels and the Chicago Cubs at the time. Under Autry’s leadership, the Angels were turned around, posting their first winning record in 1967. He became majority owner in 1970.