Following the 1960 season, the Orioles sent Pearson back to their Class AAA affiliate, which would be the Rochester Red Wings in 1961. Meanwhile, baseball owners approved the creation of the Los Angeles Angels as an expansion team in October 1960, meaning there would be an expansion draft in which the Angels got to select players from all of the major league teams. Since he was from California, Pearson wrote Fred Haney, the Angels' general manager, asking the Angels to pick him. Haney did draft Pearson–as the 30th and last pick. With the expansion Angels, Pearson turned around his career. In the team's first game, Pearson scored the franchise's first run, in a 7–0 win against his old team, the Orioles. Used mostly as a centerfielder early on, Pearson batted .250 in 30 games through May 21. For the next 30 days, he was used mainly as a pinch-hitter, batting .319 over that time period. From June 19 through the end of the year, he made most of the team's starts in right field, batting .296 for the rest of the season. Pearson hit .288 with 7 home runs, 41 RBI, and 92 runs for the season.