The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball franchise based in Anaheim, California. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball as a member club of the American League West division. The Angels have played home games at Angel Stadium since 1966. The current MLB franchise was established as an expansion team in 1961 by Gene Autry, the team's first owner. The "Angels" name was taken by Autry in tribute to the original Los Angeles Angels, a Minor League franchise in the Pacific Coast League, which played in South Central Los Angeles from 1903 to 1957. He bought the rights to the Angels name from Walter O'Malley, the then-Los Angeles Dodgers owner, who acquired the PCL franchise from Philip K. Wrigley, the owner of the parent Chicago Cubs at the time, as part of the Dodgers' move to Southern California.