The Angels had a rotten sense of timing, finally having a good
season just as their ballpark was being redeveloped to make the new
kids from Los Angeles happy.

Anaheim Stadium was a mess in 1979 as the stadium was transformed
during the season into one of those classically bad combination
stadiums. While the Angels played, the ballpark became something almost
unrecognizable so the Rams could begin playing there the next football
season.

How big was the change? They sent the stadium's landmark scoreboard packing.

Back in the stadium's quaint early days, the scoreboard looming over
the center field fence was the perfect centerpiece. But when the
renovations started, they unplugged the Big A and eventually moved it
out to the parking lot. Progress.

That was no easy feat in 1979. The first moving day ended early when once of the dollies under its base started to tilt.

The scoreboard wasn't much by today's standards, of course. But it seemed like a lot then.

"That big board was nice because when you're not pitching and just
sitting there for nine innings you get the trivia question of the day
and a few stats to keep your mind occupied," pitcher Dave Frost told
The Times in 1979.

Without the big board, the stadium's announcers had to talk more,
bringing back memories of the Dodgers' early days in the Coliseum.
Which wasn't exactly a good thing.

"They had a small board in the peristyle and it got to the point
where there were so many announcements that they were distracting
people from the game," Dennis Packer said.

–Keith Thursby