Professional Baseball in Los Angeles
Major, Minor & Independent Leagues

Vernon Tigers baseball player Jakie May, 1922.
Photo from the Sporting News Collection, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

¹ Replaced Sacramento in the four-team California League.
² No relationship to the later Los Angeles Angels of 1961. Played at Washington Park (downtown Los Angeles at 8th and Hill) and Wrigley Field in Los Angeles.
⁴ Team played in both Vernon and Venice (located at what is now South Venice and Abbot Kinney Boulevards). The Tigers, owned by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle from 1919-1925, was sold in 1925 and moved out of town to become the San Francisco Reds. In 1938, the team returned to the Los Angeles area and renamed Hollywood Stars (see above).
⁵ All-black team.
⁶ Hall of Famer Walter Johnson pitched one game for the team against the Verson Tigers in 1923. Team also won California Winter League championship in the 1924-195 Season.
⁷ First incarnation of the Hollywood Stars in L.A. Originally Sacramento Solons in 1903, then moved to Tacoma, Washington, back to Sacramento, to Fresno, to San Francisco, to Salt Lake City, before ending up in Los Angeles. Played at Wrigley Field in South L.A. as tenants of the Los Angeles Angels. Moved to San Diego in 1936 to become first incarnation of San Diego Padres. Team name revived for one season in 1946 within the California Winter League.
⁸ Also the Santa Ana Arabs and Coronado Orange Countians
⁹ No relationship to earlier Hollywood Stars. Team originally launched as Vernon Tigers in 1909 (see above) and then San Francisco Reds. Returned to Los Angeles in 1938, assumed name of earlier Hollywood Stars (see above) and played at Wrigley Field and, later, in 1939, at Gilmore Stadium in the Fairfax District. In 1957, the Stars were sold and moved to be renamed Salt Lake City Bees.
¹⁰ Team moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958. First played at Memorial Stadium in Los Angeles, then Chavez Ravine (later renamed Dodger Stadium in 1965).
¹¹ Team moved from Los Angeles to Anaheim in 1965, renamed California Angels (later Anaheim Angels, later Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim). Played in Los Angeles at Wrigley Field and Chavez Ravine.
¹² Reincarnated as the Santa Barbara Angels (1968-1971), Santa Clara Angels (1972-1975), and Salinas Angels (1976-1980).
¹³ Originally named Long Beach Barracudas in 1995, until a legal dispute with former owner forced the team name-change.
¹⁴ Previously the Reno Silver Sox (1966-1981), Reno Padres (1982-1987), Reno Silver Sox (1988-1992), and the Riverside Pilots (1993-95).

Pacific Coast League Champions (Los Angeles Teams)

Since PCL Series were sporadic, where otherwise noted below, championships were determined by final regular season standings.

¹ Champion determined by championship series.
² Due to wartime (World War I) travel restrictions, the 1918 season was suspended on July 14. Los Angeles played a post-season series against Vernon to win that season’s championship.
³ For financial reasons, the Governor's Cup Playoffs for 1950, 1952, and 1953 were cancelled. The league declared that season’s champion.

Wrigley Field was located in South Los Angeles at the intersection of 42nd Place and Avalon Boulevard. The ball park was named for chewing-gum magnate William K. Wrigley, Jr., who owned the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. Wrigley purchased the Angels in 1921, for the huge sum of $150,000. He then began construction on a stadium for the Angels in 1924. The park opened on September 29, 1925. It was designed to resemble Wrigley Field in Chicago but with a decidedly Southern California look. The last game at the park was on October 1, 1961, and it was demolished in 1966. The site is now a public park and recreation center, a community mental health center and a senior citizens' center.