Tombstone
Born: December 6, 1977 – WTT’s dormant Philadelphia Keystones franchise is sold & relocated to Anaheim, CA1Donovan, Pete. “Anaheim Joins WTT, Gets Casals”. The Times (Los Angeles, CA). December 7, 1977
Folded: January 5, 19792UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL. “Oranges peel away from WTT”. The Republic (Phoenix, AZ). January 6, 1979
First Match: April 21, 1978 (L 28-25 @ New York Apples)
Last Match: August 17, 1978 (L 27-20 vs. New York Apples)
WTT Championships: None
Arena
Anaheim Convention Center (7,200)31978 World Team Tennis Media Guide
Opened: 1967
Marketing
Team Colors: Orange & Green41978 World Team Tennis Media Guide
Ownership
Owner: Mariani-Buss Associates (Dr. Jerry Buss, Frank Mariani & Dennis Hall) & Billie Jean King
Attendance
Tap (mobile) or mouse over chart for figures. Tilting your mobile device may offer better viewing.
Source: Craig, Jack. “Lobsters to quit WTT for a year”. The Globe (Boston, MA). October 28, 1978
Editor's Pick
Bustin' Balls
World Team Tennis 1974-1978, Pro Sports, Pop Culture & Progressive Politics
by Steven Blush
Bustin’ Balls tells the strange but true story of World Team Tennis (1974-1978) that attempted to transform the prim and proper individual sport of tennis into a rowdy blue-collar league. Billie Jean King and her partners merged feminism and civil rights with queer lifestyle, pop culture and a progressive political agenda to create a dazzling platform for the finest tennis players of the day to become overnight stars.
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Background
The Anaheim Oranges were an expansion franchise during the final season of World Team Tennis in 1978. Anaheim received a full-fledged franchise of its own after the Anaheim Convention Center hosted 10 league contests as a neutral site in 1977.
The Oranges were owned by Dr. Jerry Buss and his business partner Frank Mariani, who also backed the league’s other Southern California franchises, the Los Angeles Strings and San Diego Friars. Tennis superstar and league co-founder Billie Jean King reportedly owned 29 percent of the franchise, though she played for the rival New York Apples team in 1978.
World Team Tennis was a co-ed league and featured top touring pros from all over the world who played in the league during breaks between Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and other summer tournaments. Key players for the ’78 Oranges included Rosie Casals, Cliff Drysdale and 15-year old Tracy Austin, who appeared in three matches for Anaheim as an unpaid amateur.
Demise & Revival
The franchise folded along with the rest of the World Team Tennis organization in late 1978. Billie Jean King revived a lower-budget version of the league in 1981 and a re-boot of the Oranges (the “California Oranges”) returned to the Anaheim Convention Center that summer. The new Oranges lasted from 1981 to 1983 before fading into history.
Anaheim Oranges Video
The Oranges face the New Orleans Nets at the Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri. 1978 HBO broadcast.
Anaheim Oranges Shop
WTT Wear
World Team Tennis
Logo T-Shirt
World Team Tennis has been around in one form or another for nearly fifty years now, but this chill logo tee from our partners at Old School Shirts pays tribute to the original league and its mid-70’s glory days when Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Bjorn Borg and Ilie Nastase suited up for their WTT clubs in between Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.
Also available in women’s scoop neck and women’s racerback tank styles!
When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!
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4 Responses
Are the Anaheim Oranges and the New York Apples the only two North American professional teams to have fruit nicknames?
That’s a great question, Graham. There must be more – undoubtedly there are a few among early 20th century minor league baseball teams (which had an incredible diversity of names). Though none spring to mind at the moment.
There are a ton of “fruit-adjacent” team names, of course. Especially those connected to the wine industry. Such as the Jamestown Jammers minor league baseball team, recently of the New York-Penn League.
It’s always a difficult question when you’re talkin’ Apples and Oranges…(haha)
I was in attendance at the Anaheim Convention Center in ’78 when the LA Strings played the Oranges and had a great time. I was a big Nastase fan.