> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.grumpybuck.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # On This Date: They Broke Ground on the Big A (Aug. 31, 1964) — And the 5 Greatest Nights It Ever Hosted - URL: https://www.grumpybuck.com/on-this-date-they-broke-ground-on-the-big-a-aug-31-1964-and-the-5-greatest-nights-it-ever-hosted/ - Published: 2026-08-31T11:46:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-31T11:46:27.000Z - Author: Brad Riddell - Tags: Sports History On this date in 1964, Gene Autry — the Singing Cowboy turned baseball owner — stood on a patch of Orange County farmland where alfalfa and orange groves grew, and watched a shovel go into the dirt. The $24 million stadium that rose from that field would host a still-standing strikeout record, 2 members' entries into the 500-homer and 3,000-hit clubs, and the greatest comeback the World Series has ever seen in an elimination game. ## Why Anaheim Existed at All ![LA Evening Citizen News, Sept 1, 1964: ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/clip-ana-autry-1964.jpg) LA Evening Citizen News, Sept 1, 1964: "HE DIGS IT — Smiling Angel owner Gene Autry swings shovel as if it were a baseball bat" ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/ana-construction-1965.jpg) "Anaheim Stadium — Future Home of the Angels": the steel rising out of the orange groves, 1965\. Photo: Orange County Archives, CC BY 2.0 The Angels spent their first years as tenants in Dodger Stadium, and Walter O'Malley made sure they felt it: 7.5% of the gate, half the concessions, all of the parking money — O'Malley even billed the Angels for half the stadium's supplies. Autry summed it up: "You can never be anything more than a stepchild to the people you rent from." ![Opening weeks, April 1966 — a ballpark where the alfalfa used to be. Photo: CC BY 4.0](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/ana-opening-1966.jpg) Opening weeks, April 1966 — a ballpark where the alfalfa used to be. Photo: CC BY 4.0 ![Press-Telegram, Sept 1, 1964: ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/clip-ana-presstelegram-1964.jpg) Press-Telegram, Sept 1, 1964: "Break Ground for $16 Million Edifice" — with Mickey Mouse in attendance, naturally So the Angels went south, renamed themselves "California," and built their own place — anchored by the Big A itself: a 230-foot, 210-ton A-frame scoreboard with a halo on top, the tallest structure in Orange County when the park opened in April 1966\. (The Angels lost the opener 3-1 to the White Sox, because of course they did.) When the stadium was enclosed for the Rams around 1979-80, the Big A moved to the parking lot, where it still lights its halo after every win. Now — the 5 greatest things that ever happened inside. ## 5\. Bo's Bomb (July 11, 1989) ![Bo Jackson's leadoff swing at the 1989 All-Star Game](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/ana-bo-1989.jpg) Bo Jackson's leadoff swing at the 1989 All-Star Game All-Star Game, bottom of the 1st, and Bo Jackson leads off against Rick Reuschel with a howitzer to dead center — measured around 448 feet, with Ronald Reagan in the broadcast booth alongside Vin Scully as it left the bat. Wade Boggs went back-to-back behind him, Bo added a steal and took MVP. There are longer home runs, but few that announced an era harder. ## 4\. Sir Rodney Joins the Club (Aug. 4, 1985) ![Rod Carew tips his cap — hit No. 3,000, Aug 4, 1985](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/ana-carew-3000.jpg) Rod Carew tips his cap — hit No. 3,000, Aug 4, 1985 Rod Carew's 3,000th hit came at Anaheim, a 3rd-inning single — against the Twins, his old team, off Frank Viola. He became just the 16th man to 3,000, the first since Yastrzemski, and 41,630 fans stood for 2 solid minutes while Gene Autry came onto the field. Perfect baseball trivia footnote: Tom Seaver won his 300th game the very same day. ## 3\. Reggie's 500th (Sept. 17, 1984) ![Reggie Jackson in Angels red, watching one leave](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/ana-reggie-watch.jpg) Reggie Jackson in Angels red, watching one leave Bottom of the 7th, Reggie Jackson turns on a Bud Black pitch for career home run No. 500 — the 13th player ever to get there. The date is the story: it came exactly 17 years to the day after his 1st career homer, which he'd hit — as a Kansas City Athletic — against the Angels. Baseball has a sense of humor with its bookkeeping. ## 2\. Ryan Passes Koufax (Sept. 27, 1973) ![The Anaheim scoreboard, Sept 27, 1973: 383](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/ana-scoreboard-383.jpg) The Anaheim scoreboard, Sept 27, 1973: 383 ![The artifact: Ryan in the clubhouse with a baseball marked ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/ana-ryan-1973.jpg) The artifact: Ryan in the clubhouse with a baseball marked "383 K" — Sept 27, 1973 (public domain) ![The Post-Crescent, Sept 28, 1973: ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/clip-ana-ryan-1973.jpg) The Post-Crescent, Sept 28, 1973: "Nolan Ryan makes history" Nolan Ryan entered the season's final home start chasing Sandy Koufax's single-season strikeout record of 382 — and needed extra innings to get there. In the top of the 11th, on 3 fastballs, he blew away pinch-hitter Rich Reese for strikeout No. 383, his 16th of the night. The Angels walked it off in the bottom of the inning to hand Ryan his 21st win. More than 50 years later, nobody has touched the number. ## 1\. Game 6 (Oct. 26-27, 2002) ![Los Angeles Times World Series special section, Oct 27, 2002: ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/clip-ana-lat-2002.jpg) Los Angeles Times World Series special section, Oct 27, 2002: "7 the Hard Way" Down 5-0 in the 7th inning of World Series Game 6, 8 outs from watching the Giants celebrate on their field, the Angels pulled off the largest elimination-game comeback in World Series history: Scott Spiezio's 3-run homer, Darin Erstad's leadoff shot, Troy Glaus's 2-run double off Robb Nen — 6-5, and the Rally Monkey became a deity. The next night, rookie John Lackey and the bullpen closed out Game 7, 4-1, for the only championship in franchise history. Thirty-eight years after the shovel went into the alfalfa field, Gene Autry's stadium finally got its parade — though the Cowboy himself had passed 4 years before. ## Honorable Mentions ![The Big A today — halo still lit after wins. Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/ana-modern.jpg) The Big A today — halo still lit after wins. Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6a/b0/6ab0eb2f-edcf-411e-aaff-39e6be3d4e39/content/images/2026/08/ana-postcard.jpg) "Home of the California Angels" — a vintage postcard from the parking-lot-with-fins era The 1967 All-Star Game went a record 15 innings in the park's second season (Tony Perez won it, 2-1). Nolan Ryan threw 2 of his Angels no-hitters at home — September 1974 and the Koufax-tying 4th in June 1975\. And on Sept. 25, 1979, Frank Tanana's complete game clinched the franchise's first-ever division title — "Yes We Can," 19 seasons in. Not bad for an alfalfa field.