SLUMP AT BIG A : Though It’s Not Easy Being an Angel Fan, There Are Always Plenty of Seats Available

Only a few minutes remain before the start of Saturday evening’s Angel game, that special time of late when Cathy Foyt and Cecil Smith busy themselves with bargain hunting.

On this night, Foyt, of El Segundo, and Smith, of Santa Monica, are looking for the baseball equivalent of a blue-light special: a pair of tickets--preferably free, though they’ll settle for cheap. With the Angels 14 1/2 games out of first place in the AL West, Foyt and Smith usually don’t search long.

“We’ve gotten in free many times,” Foyt said.

And they do it using this sort of logic:

“The Angels are in last place, so there’s got to be some people who have tickets that they’re not going to use,” Smith said. “Why pay exorbitant amounts of money to sit in a stadium with 60,000 seats? We’re maximizing our opportunity.”

These are depressing times for Angel followers. Few wins, a sense of disappointment, but plenty of open seating.

After 22 games at Anaheim Stadium this season, the Angels are averaging 29,878 fans. Compare that to last year, when the Angels drew 729,142 fans after the same number of games, an average of 33,143. Over an 81-game home schedule, that’s a projected loss of 264,465 fans.

There are reasons for the decline, plenty of them, according to some of the diehards who attended Saturday night’s game. Start with the losing, many of them suggested, and then work your way down the organizational ladder.

“They do have a good team; it’s just that they haven’t been 100%,” said David Kinder of South Gate. “Sometimes, they just look like they’re dead.”

In fact, ask an Angel fan to play general manager for a day and you get a lot of this:

“There’s so many things (wrong), I don’t even know where to start,” John Treece of Long Beach said. “They need more speed in the outfield, more power, a left-handed relief pitcher. Their second baseman (Mark McLemore, who is on the disabled list) can’t hit. They’ve got a catcher who can’t hit. The shortstop is average. The third baseman is iffy. The left fielder can’t field. The center fielder is hurt and when he’s not, he strikes out too much. The right fielder is poor defensively.”

Other than that, Treece loves this team.

“They just have mediocre players to start with,” Treece said. “It’s just a sad situation right now.”

How sad? Treece said the new Angel scoreboard, the parking situation and--get this--the malts sold at the concession stands are almost as much a drawing card as the game itself. And this on a night when the Angels defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 5-0.

Armand Cruz of Anaheim brought his twin sons, Alan and Aaron, to Saturday evening’s game. He didn’t know where to begin, either.

“To me, I guess I’d fire them up. I think they can play better. I just think it’s something internal. It’s a matter of attitude. And they need help with their pitching. If I were general manager for a day, that’s what I would do, concentrate on pitching.”

Others opted for more drastic measures, such as extending their own stays as general manager. Or worse yet, using their day in power to rid the Angels of their current general manager, Mike Port.

“I just don’t like the job he’s been doing,” Kinder said.

“They’re trying to take too many shortcuts,” Dennis Donegan of Irvine said. “They draw 2.5 million fans, but they don’t spend any money.”

Steve Manos of Brea attended the game because, well, it was the first night he could get a pair of his company’s season tickets. Figured, he said.

“It takes a bit from the excitement of seeing them, especially since they’re playing Baltimore. The only consolation is that they’re somewhat evenly matched.”

Shortly after the game begins, Foyt and Smith walk quickly toward the stadium entrance. They found their bargain.

“Two $8 seats for $10,” Smith said. “And they’re right behind home plate. See, I root for the Angels.”

For the right price.