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BOB COSTAS:
Game 1 of the 1934 World Series belonged to the Anaheim Angels, who announced themselves on the sport’s biggest stage with a poised, comprehensive 7–4 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. For a franchise making its first-ever World Series appearance, this was not a tentative opening — it was confident, aggressive, and controlled.
The Angels chipped away early, seized the lead in the middle innings, and never relinquished it, quieting a crowd of nearly forty-five thousand with timely hitting and sturdy pitching. Most importantly, they did exactly what road teams dream of in a Game 1: they dictated the pace.

JOE MORGAN:
Bob, what jumps out right away is how balanced Anaheim was. This wasn’t one big inning or one guy carrying them. They kept putting pressure on San Francisco — running the bases, taking extra bags, forcing the Giants to execute perfectly. And the Giants just couldn’t do that.
Anaheim stole four bases, had extra-base hits all over the field, and every time San Francisco scored, Anaheim answered back. That’s championship baseball.

COSTAS:
The turning point came in the fifth inning, when catcher Asllan Marku launched a solo home run off Ed Pritchett to give Anaheim a 3–2 lead. It was not the longest ball of the night, but it may have been the most significant — a moment that shifted momentum permanently.
Marku finished with two hits and two runs driven in, but he was emblematic of a lineup that simply refused to give away at-bats.

MORGAN:
And Bob, look at Danny Cespedes on the mound. He gave up only three hits in nearly seven innings. The Giants had traffic — five walks — but they never squared him up consistently. That tells you his stuff was lively, and more importantly, he wasn’t afraid to challenge hitters.
When you’re a road starter in Game 1, your job is to keep your team in control emotionally. Cespedes did exactly that. The Giants never felt like they were about to break the game open.

COSTAS:
San Francisco, for its part, struggled mightily to generate offense. Four hits over nine innings is a stunning statistic for a club that dominated the National League throughout the season. They had opportunities — runners left on base, chances with men in scoring position — but Anaheim’s pitching staff consistently won those confrontations.
Even when the Giants closed to within a run in the sixth, Anaheim responded with another surge, capped by a two-run eighth inning that effectively sealed the outcome.

MORGAN:
That’s where postseason experience — or the lack of fear — really shows. Anaheim didn’t tighten up. They kept attacking. Ricky Roman, Billy Horn, Carlos Guzman — everybody contributed something. That’s how you steal home-field advantage.
Now the pressure flips. Game 2 becomes enormous for San Francisco, because you don’t want to head south down 0–2 against a team that’s clearly playing loose and confident.

COSTAS:
So, on a cool October afternoon by the bay, the Angels take Game 1 and, with it, the psychological edge. Anaheim leads the World Series one game to none — four wins away from completing one of the most remarkable championship runs this sport has ever seen.
Game 2 awaits, and suddenly, the Giants find themselves responding — not dictating — in their own ballpark.