2002 Anaheim Angels season

The 2002 Anaheim Angels season was the franchise's 42nd, and it ended with the team's first American League pennant and World Series championship.
The Angels finished the regular season with a record of 99–63, 4 games behind the Oakland Athletics in the American League West standings, but qualified for the franchise's first ever wild card playoff berth to return to the postseason for the first time since 1986. Outfielder Garret Anderson led the team with 123 runs batted in and a.539 slugging percentage, was selected for the AL All-Star team, and won the Silver Slugger Award. Jarrod Washburn went 18-6 with a 3.15 earned run average to anchor a pitching staff that allowed the fewest runs in the league.
In the postseason, the Angels defeated the New York Yankees 3–1 in the ALDS, then defeated the Minnesota Twins 4–1 in the ALCS to win the AL pennant. The Angels then won the World Series in dramatic fashion when, with a 3–2 series deficit to the San Francisco Giants, they overcame a 5 run deficit in the late innings of Game 6 to force a winner-take-all Game 7, which they won to clinch the series 4–3. The morning after the win, The Orange County Register celebrated the Angels' win with the headline "7th Heaven," referring to the popular television series and fact that it took seven games for the Angels to win the World Series, and in doing so, it sent them to seventh heaven. Another highlight came in Game 2 when the Angels did not strike out at all, becoming the first team since both the 1960 Pirates and 1960 Yankees to avoid striking out in a postseason game. This feat wouldn't be repeated until the 2024 Mets did so in Game 5 of the 2024 NLCS against the Dodgers.
2002 was also notable as the season in which the Angels debuted their present-day uniforms, colors, and halo insignia, which replaced the widely ridiculed "periwinkle" uniforms and "winged" insignia they had worn since 1997. It was also the last season the team was owned by The Walt Disney Company, which sold its controlling interest in the team to present-day owner Arte Moreno in 2003.

Off season

The Anaheim Angels focus in the off season leading up to the 2002 season was on how to improve the Angels from the 2001 season when they finished 41 games behind the Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

Off season transactions

January 4, 2002: Aaron Sele was signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Angels.
January 31, 2002: Donne Wall was signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Angels.
February 4, 2002: Erick Aybar was signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Angels.
February 7, 2002: Clay Bellinger was signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Angels.
Spring training

The Anaheim Angels' '2002' spring training took place at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Angels spring training record was 17-15.

Spring training transactions

March 16, 2002: Julio Ramirez was signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Angels.
Standings

Season standings

American League Wild Card

Record vs. opponents

Month	Games	Won	Lost	Pct.
March	1	0	1
April	24	11	13
May	26	19	7
June	29	17	12
July	26	16	10
August	29	18	11
September	27	18	9
Totals	162	99	63

2002 draft

The 2002 Major League Baseball draft was held on June 4–5.

Regular season

Game log

Roster

Regular season transactions

July 31, 2002: Alex Ochoa was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers with Sal Fasano to the Anaheim Angels for players to be named later and Jorge Fábregas. The Anaheim Angels sent Johnny Raburn and Pedro Liriano to the Milwaukee Brewers to complete the trade.
Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos. = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	Pos	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Garret Anderson	LF	158	638	195	.306	29	123
David Eckstein	SS	152	608	178	.293	8	63
Darin Erstad	CF	150	625	177	.283	10	73
Brad Fullmer	DH	130	429	124	.289	19	59
Troy Glaus	3B	156	569	142	.250	30	111
Adam Kennedy	2B	144	474	148	.312	7	52
Bengie Molina	C	122	428	105	.245	5	47
Tim Salmon	RF	138	483	138	.286	22	88
Scott Spiezio	1B	153	491	140	.285	12	82

Other batters

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	Pos	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Jorge Fábregas	C	35	88	17	.193	0	8
José Molina	C	29	70	19	.271	0	5
Shawn Wooten	1B/DH	49	113	33	.292	3	19
Julio Ramirez	CF/RF	29	32	9	.281	1	7
Orlando Palmeiro	LF/RF	110	263	79	.300	0	31
Alex Ochoa	RF	37	65	18	.277	2	10
Jeff DaVanon	OF	16	30	5	.167	1	4
José Nieves	2B/3B	45	97	28	.289	0	6
Benji Gil	1B/2B/SS	61	130	37	.285	3	20
Chone Figgins	2B	15	12	2	.167	0	1
Alfredo Amézaga	SS	12	13	7	.538	0	2
Clay Bellinger	1B	2	1	0	.000	0	0
Sal Fasano	C	2	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Ramón Ortiz	32	217.1	15	9	3.77	162
Jarrod Washburn	32	206.0	18	6	3.15	139
Kevin Appier	32	188.1	7	7	3.92	132
Aaron Sele	26	160.0	8	9	4.89	82
John Lackey	18	108.1	9	4	3.66	69
Mickey Callaway	6	34.1	2	1	4.19	23

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Scott Schoeneweis	54	118.0	9	8	0	4.88	65

Relief pitchers