NHL/MLB markets where hockey and baseball share special links

Shared NHL and MLB market: Anaheim

All of the Big Four men’s leagues have had a team reside full-time or part-time in an Anaheim venue. But only two have stuck, let alone temporarily or always acknowledged their proper dateline.

In 1993, the new local NHL team took the first step by answering to the name Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Four years later, after going by the California Angels for three decades, the MLB team came around.

Granted, the ballclub soon miffed their core Orange County fans by switching to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. If it was possible to perturb the locals any further, they later did it by dropping “Anaheim” altogether.

But whereas the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Rams always used those monikers even when they played in Anaheim, the city of Disneyland had its Anaheim Angels from 1997 to 2004.

It still has its L.A. Angels, and still has its Anaheim Ducks. Those names might not be as fun as Anaheim Angels or Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, which those teams used during their respective Disney-ownership eras, but at least the sports are still in the city full-time.

Speaking of Disney, the town’s longtime tenants also have a common pop-culture thread. The entertainment giant founded the hockey team and named it after its 1992 film, which later spawned a sequel partially shot at the Anaheim Pond (now Honda Center). Four months after D2: The Mighty Ducks hit theaters, the “California” nine got their own silver screen stint via Angels in the Outfield.

Angels in the Outfield even has a Mighty Ducks Easter egg. Look closely at the hat salesman’s stash at the start of the Oakland Athletics game scene.