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Angels Celebrate First World Series Title - 2002-10-28


The Anaheim Angels are celebrating their first World Series championship in the team's 42-year history. It was an emotional series for Angels' fans, with a storybook ending, Sunday night.

Pandemonium broke out at Edison Field in Anaheim as the Angels won the final game of their series against the San Francisco Giants 4-1.

As far as the eye could see, there was red - the Angels' color. One Giants' fan found it almost overwhelming. "It's an unbelievable experience. It's like a sea of red. I'm impressed with the Angels," he said.

The Angels clinched the title in game seven of the best-of-seven series Sunday, after they were nearly eliminated the previous evening. The Angels had been trailing the Giants, 5-0, in Saturday's game, but rallied in the seventh inning and went on to win, 6-5.

With Sunday's win, the Angels earned their first championship since cowboy movie star Gene Autry formed the expansion team in 1961. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig presented the series trophy and said the late owner would have been pleased. "And I want to say to all of you that somewhere, Gene Autry is smiling right now," he said.

One Angels' fan was also smiling. He said the win was worth the wait. "Every since I was a little kid growing up in Anaheim, I used to watch the Angels' games right here with my dad, coming here all the time, hoping for them to make it and they never did until this year," he said. "So it means a lot to me."

There was disappointment in San Francisco, where 5,000 Giants' fans gathered in an arena to watch the game on a giant television. They had been hoping the Giants would earn their first World Series win since 1954, when the team was still located in New York City.

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