A Big Day at the Big A and on Autry Way

It was a day full of promise, hoopla and expectation for Gene Autry and Orange County Angels fans--at least before their beloved team opened the home season with a losing performance against the Oakland A’s.

In pregame celebrations, a street was renamed in honor of Autry, fans were treated to a colorful array of events, and a U.S. general fresh from a highly visible role in the Persian Gulf War tossed out the first ball.

Never mind that hours later, the fans would witness the Angels’ 5-2 defeat. For a while at least, the mood was euphoric.

“The home opener means new beginnings,” Brooks Walsh, a 22-year-old Garden Grove college student, said earlier Monday. “Last season was a tough season. Today, it’s like the first day of school, and everyone is looking forward to a new season.”

The man who won fame on the movie screen and brought professional baseball to Orange County also was was clearly in the mood for a new season.

“Our aim is to go out and kick the hell out of the rest of these (baseball) owners and win a pennant this year,” said the 83-year-old Autry. “It would be a lot of fun if we could play the Dodgers in the World Series.”

It took as long as the first inning, when pitcher Kirk McCaskill walked the bases loaded, for the fans’ mood to change. Many of them--in the fashion typical of last year--left the stadium when things look bad in the seventh inning.

In fact, the highlight for many Angels fans occurred late in the game when a spectator streaked across the field to the loudest cheers of the evening.

Before the game, traffic was literally brought to a halt a full three hours before game time as Autry and Anaheim Mayor Fred Hunter were hoisted several feet above the main stadium entrance by a Fire Department hook-and-ladder truck to unveil the new, Gene Autry Way street sign, while the Angels’ Dixieland Band blared “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” in front of the stadium.

“There is more excitement in the air this year than I have felt in other years,” the mayor said. “This might be the year.”

By early afternoon, hundreds of pennant-hungry fans began lining up outside the stadium ticket windows, anxious for their first regular-season look at a home team that has gotten off to one of its best starts.

Walsh could not stop talking about Angel slugger Dave Winfield’s three home runs last week in Minnesota.

“I’ve never been an Angel fan, but I am a big Winfield fan,” Walsh said from his place in the ticket line. “He’s tremendous. I think he’s going to have his best year this year.”

Newport Beach attorney David Powell, 45, said he was standing in line to get two tickets for his son, hoping that baseball would take the teen-ager’s mind off his recent demands for a new car.

“Maybe this will turn down the heat for at least 24 hours,” Powell said.

Shelly Mucky, 27, of Garden Grove said she came to see the Oakland A’s but hoped the “Angels would go all the way. I’ve never been to an opening day before.”

Inside the stadium, the familiar cries of program hawkers and the red, white and blue bunting hanging from the decks heralded the start of a new season as thousands streamed in to take their seats.

Even the colors of the U.S. Armed Forces were represented as retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Kelly, who became famous for his daily, televised Pentagon briefings during the Gulf War, was invited to throw out the first ball.

“There will be no ‘smart’ bombs,” Kelly said with a laugh. “Everybody’s a baseball fan.”

The general, who commented that he has been busier since his retirement than he had been while working for the Pentagon, said he came to Anaheim at Autry’s invitation.

In a pregame celebration, which featured Kelly, fans were treated to a colorful array of events, offering everything from a solemn tribute to the returning troops of Operation Desert Storm to a band of Disney characters engaging in an imaginary game of hardball on the field.

The biggest fan reaction was reserved for the general, who walked briskly to the pitcher’s mound attired in a gray suit and an Angel cap. Before Kelly reached the mound, the fans stood and offered a thunderous welcome. Kelly’s pitch, however, was high and out of the strike zone.

In the press dining room, manager Jack Britton was begining his 25th season at the stadium where he has served Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

As the chicken and roast beef were being prepared for the opening-night meal, Britton said he also looked forward to a winning season.

“They know what to do,” he said.

At the public concession counters, stadium workers were besieged by hungry fans, who crowded not only the hot dog stands but the sushi counters and even the new California Deli.

With a menu featuring hot deli sandwiches, garden and fruit salads, manager Madeline Martinez was excited about her opening night.

“We’ve got hot roast beef, hot pastrami, subs and any salad dressing you could imagine,” Martinez said from her post in the kitchen. “It’s always nice to see something new around.”

But neither hot dogs nor roast beef could lure Ray Ferrar, 23, and John King, 18, from their perches in the stands. Both theater-ticket salesmen, Ferrar and King said they attend more than 20 games each year and prefer to sit in “Party-town, U.S.A.”

“We try to start the wave most of the time,” Ferrar said. “You meet some great people up here. “

Some of the most enthusiastic fans were the four children of Mary and Mark Clarke of Irvine.

Five-year-old Kelly, clutching her ticket as she followed her parents and siblings through the gate, let out a fan’s whoop: “Yea, baseball! Baseball! Baseball!”