Strikeout for the Angels

The California Angels are always looking for more hits, but in setting up the new family section in the left-field seats at Anaheim Stadium the ball club has struck out.

The strategy was great: Put families in their own separate and wholesome section, away from the beer-drinking, cursing, rowdy fans that you sometimes find in the ballpark. (Some fans have suggested that it is the beer-drinking, cussing, rowdy ones that should be put in their own far-away section.) The club’s front office draws an error, however, in its execution.

The one missing ingredient of the 2,615-seat family section, aside from fans to fill it, is a family admission rate. The seats in the family section are $7 each. This means that an outing in the family section for mom, dad and four children would cost $42. That’s just for admission. Parking and refreshments bring the day’s tab to a figure approaching Doug DeCinces’ salary. At least it looks that high to a baseball lover who would like to take the family to the ballpark.

The Angels have less expensive seats in the stadium. There are $5 tickets, and before game time general-admission seats go on sale for $3 each. But the family section remains at $7, and for most games, except for the Memorial Day Weekend when the Yankees were in town and the family section was nearly one-third full, the section draws only a handful of fans--often as few as 25. We suspect that there would be more fans of the family plan if the Angels made the admission price more reasonable, or at least offered a discount for children sitting in the section.