The players, managers, and figures who shaped this franchise. Gone but remembered by everyone who has ever worn the halo.
Garret Anderson died on April 16, 2026, at his home in Newport Beach. He was 53 years old. The cause was acute necrotizing pancreatitis. He left behind his wife Teresa, their daughters Brianne and Bailey, and their son Trey.
He played 2,013 games for this organisation — more than anyone in franchise history — and holds the Angels record in every meaningful offensive category. He was not a loud player. He did not demand attention. He showed up, hit the ball, and played left field with a professionalism that made everything look easier than it was. Over 15 seasons with the California, Anaheim, and Los Angeles Angels, through every name change and every era, he was simply there.
In the 2002 World Series, he was everywhere it mattered — a game-tying single in Game 2, the go-ahead run in Game 6, ten RBI in a single ALCS game against the Twins that remains a franchise record. He was the 2003 All-Star Game MVP. He was inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame in 2016. The Angels wore a GA patch all of 2026 in his honour.
Fifty-three is not old. That needs to be said plainly. He had decades ahead of him. The franchise has not recovered from the news and does not need to yet.
Nick Adenhart was 22 years old when he died, killed by a drunk driver in the early hours of April 9, 2009 — hours after his best career start. He had thrown six shutout innings against the Athletics, struck out five, walked none. He was a year into what should have been a long career.
He grew up in Williamsport, Maryland, was drafted by the Angels in the 14th round in 2004 out of high school, and spent five years working his way up through the system. He made his MLB debut in 2008. He was twenty-two. He had his whole career ahead of him. The night he died, he had finally arrived.
The Angels wore #34 patches for the remainder of the 2009 season. They won the AL West that year, and many players said privately they felt Adenhart was with them through it. His locker at Angel Stadium remained untouched for months.
There is no way to frame this that makes it less terrible. He was twenty-two. He had earned his shot. He never got to take it.
Don Baylor was the Angels' first true power presence — a right-handed hitter who drove in runs in bunches and won the AL MVP in 1979 with 36 home runs and 139 RBI. He led the Angels to the ALCS that year. He was intense and he was professional and he was exactly what the franchise needed when it needed it. Died of multiple myeloma at 68. The Angels retired his number — #25 — in 2014.
The Cowboy King who built this franchise from nothing. Gene Autry founded the Angels as an expansion team in 1961 and owned them for 36 years. He wanted to win a championship more than almost anything — he never got to see one. Three days after his death, the Arte Moreno era would eventually deliver the 2002 World Series. Autry would have wept. He is the reason this team exists. The Big A was his idea. So was everything that came after it.
Jimmie Reese was the oldest active coach in baseball when he died, having served the Angels for 22 seasons into his nineties. He was Babe Ruth's roommate. He had been involved in professional baseball for over 70 years. His fungo bat work was legendary — he could place a ball within a foot of wherever he wanted. Players loved him universally. He was 89 years old when he died, still coaching, still on the field. The Angels retired his number — #50 — in 1995.