The Angels began play in 1961 as one of two expansion teams (with the Washington Senators) awarded by Major League Baseball that season—baseball's first additions to either of the two major leagues in 60 years. The Angels were originally based in Los Angeles and were owned by “Singing Cowboy” Gene Autry. The team was renamed the California Angels in 1965. In 1966, after five seasons in Los Angeles—which included a winning year in just their second season of play—they relocated to nearby Anaheim.

Before the 1972 season, the Angels traded six-time All-Star shortstop Jim Fregosi for future Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan (Ryan, Nolan), who went on to throw four of his record seven career no-hitters in an Angels uniform and contributed to the team's first play-off berth in 1979 (on a team managed by Fregosi). The Angels made the play-offs again in 1982 and 1986, but the team failed to advance to the World Series each season after losing series leads of two games to none and three games to one, respectively. The Angels endured another notable collapse in 1995, squandering a record 11¹/₂-game divisional lead over the Seattle Mariners with six weeks left in the season.

In 2002 the team, then known as the Anaheim Angels, won their first play-off series as they advanced to the World Series: led by sluggers Garret Anderson, Tim Salmon, and Troy Glaus, the Angels won a dramatic seven-game series over the San Francisco Giants that featured four contests that were decided by one run. With the addition of perennial All-Star Vladimir Guerrero in 2004, along with the continued development of young pitchers such as Francisco Rodriguez, the Angels became a yearly play-off contender—winning division titles in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008—and one of baseball's best teams, but they have yet to match the postseason success of the 2002 Angels squad.