Remembering “Angel Annie” of the PCL

Long before superfans became known as such, the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League (1903-'57) had a fan nicknamed "Angel Annie" who more than fit the bill.

Angel Annie, whose real name was Roberta King, was said to cheer for her beloved Angels in Los Angeles' Wrigley Field with a voice that someone once described as being "somewhere between a police siren and a dynamite explosion." For 35 years, she is believed to have attended approximately 5,000 games (including games in other PCL stadiums), and she left quite an impression on players and fans.

The most comprehensive place to read about Angel Annie is on the Bilko Athletic Club website - where most of the information above comes from. But you can also find a few other diehard fans who have written tidbits about her over the years, even though she has been deceased from nearly sixty years (she passed away at the age of 87 in January, 1955).

"Angel Annie was a special favorite memory of mine," writes Rollin Keller on his blog, Old Guys Rule. "She was an aged black lady who was the Angels' greatest fan. Following an inning in which the Angels rallied for a run or more, Annie would stand in her place in the stands and hoot a long, high pitched cheer that everyone recognized as it echoed throughout the stands. I only saw her from a distance, but she was surely a legend in her time. Every true fan of the Angels loved Annie and listened for her hoot." She missed very few games he said.

Another fan left a comment on the Seamheads website about her, saying, "I have her autograph. She used a rubber stamp because she couldn't write." I'd love to track that fan down and hear more about the day he got her autograph.

In fact, if you grew up going to Angels games at Wrigley Field in the 1940s or ‘50s and you can remember anything else about Angel Annie, please leave your recollections in the comments below.