 10/03/2004 10:05 PM ET
Meet Angel Stadium
After 2002, Anaheim's home cursed no more
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| Angel Stadium played host to the 2002 World Series, which was won by the hometown Angels. (AP)
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Angel Stadium was considered to be Jinx Central for a long time, because the Angels hadn't won a World Series and had come agonizingly close several times, only to see their hopes dashed by bizarre and usually unfair circumstances.
That all changed in 2002, of course, when the then-Edison Field became the party capital of baseball, with the Rally Monkey jumping, the ThunderStix banging, and the Angels stamping out any notions that they were cursed forever.
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ANAHEIM ANGELS AL West Champions |
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Multimedia
First-half highlights 
Home opener 
The Angels' road to the playoffs: 56K | 350K
Angels clinch the AL West title: 56K | 350K
Garrett Anderson's game-winning RBI in the clincher: 56K | 350K
K-Rod sets the Angels' single-season strike out record for a reliever 56K | 350K
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Fan zone
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Since then, the stadium has become one of the most exciting and well-attended ballparks in the big leagues. The faux rockpile and waterfall in center field provide a very Southern California backdrop, and with eternal sunshine above and one of the best green grass surfaces in ball below, you can't complain about the sightlines.
Angel Stadium isn't really considered a pitcher's park or a hitter's park, but it has interesting quirks, like the 18-foot-high out-of-town scoreboard that has to be cleared if hitters are going to homer into the right-field pavilion. And don't forget the three-foot-high fences in the corners of right and left field that can sometimes turn what look like innocent pop flies into ground-rule doubles or homers.
Just ask former Angel Scott Spiezio, whose famous Game 6 homer in the 2002 World Series might have been an unbelievably disappointing flyout in many other parks. Doug Miller is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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