Autry Still Showing the Way of Future

Gene Autry’s versatility won him a number of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but his personal qualities as a baseball executive (and long-suffering pennant aspirant) have won him respect and admiration from generations scarcely familiar with his work as an entertainer. Toward the end of his career, Reggie Jackson put winning a World Series for Autry at the top of his list of goals.

When the city of Anaheim and Autry’s California Angels resolved a bitter lawsuit several years ago over development rights in the Anaheim Stadium parking lot, Autry was quick to bury the hatchet.

Anaheim could not grant Autry that longed-for championship in return for his diplomacy and leadership, but the city did make a significant gesture recently when it renamed a half-mile-long street leading to Anaheim Stadium “Gene Autry Way.” That goes a way toward acknowledging the contribution Autry--who wanted his team to be called the California Angels--has made to Southern California.

Autry, 83, sporting a cowboy hat, was hoisted on a fire pumper to unveil the new sign bearing his name. While the street is only a short road through an industrial area, there is talk of extending it to the downtown Convention Center or using it as a right of way for Anaheim’s planned people-mover.

Dan Wooldridge, executive assistant to Supervisor Don R. Roth, makes the interesting point that Autry has come to be a symbol for confidence in Orange County’s future. He says: “When Autry came down in ’64 and in ’65 the stadium opened, people didn’t laugh him out of the county. Now we are looking at the same kind of future for the county, a future being driven by a combination of a leisure industry and tourism focused around the city of Anaheim.”

Anaheim today has more ambitious plans. Just as he was a quarter of a century ago when he moved a team to a place where citrus had once grown, Gene Autry remains a positive symbol for things that might be.