Opening Day at the Big A Is Still a Thrill

He sat in traffic for about half an hour outside Anaheim Stadium, waited in line for a half-hour to buy his ticket, endured another half-hour wait to buy a hot dog, and when he needed to dab some mustard off his lip, the napkin holder was empty.

“I’ve been coming here forever and this is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Don Clavesilla, a 31-year-old Newport Beach resident, of the service on his way into Tuesday’s game between the California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers. “I’m not even sure what inning it is--I haven’t seen any of the game yet.

“But all and all, it’s great to be here; the weather is great, it’s a good crowd. I’m fired up. I missed baseball.”

A sunny, 70-degree afternoon, a hot dog, smothered with the works, and a ticket for Opening Day tend to melt away the troubles of any dedicated fan.

For one day, it didn’t matter that the Angels had dumped several of their most popular players in an effort to slash their payroll and did little to improve the team during the off-season. For one day, it didn’t matter that the Angels aren’t expected to contend for the American League pennant.

Baseball was back, and for many of the paid crowd of 29,843 who saw the Angels’ 3-1 victory over the Brewers on Tuesday, that was all that mattered.

“It’s the start of the season, the end of six months of hoping, wishing, saying, ‘maybe next year,’ ” said Dan Grody, 36, an unemployed plumber from Westminster who has been to the last 13 Opening Days in Anaheim Stadium. “You have to go to Opening Day. If I was working, I would have found some way to leave at 11 a.m. and come here.”

Grody was apparently in the minority among Southern California residents, though. Despite a buy-one-get-one-free ticket deal, Tuesday’s paid attendance figure was the lowest for Opening Day since 1978. The total in house was 33,635.

While Opening Day sellouts are the norm around the nation, the closest the Angels have ever come to filling their 64,593-seat stadium for the opener was in 1988, when they drew 45,586 against the Oakland Athletics.

“We’ve tried 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. games, given out caps on opening night,” said Tim Mead, the Angels’ vice president for media relations. “I don’t know why we draw better than the Dodgers during the Freeway Series and they always sell out on Opening Day.”

Neither does Roger Reimer, a 48-year-old bank officer from Newport Beach who has been to six of the past eight Opening Days in Anaheim Stadium.

“I was on the phone this week with people from Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, and all everyone was talking about was Opening Day,” Reimer said. “I guess it’s just more of a ritual in those cities. The winter’s over, the snow is gone, they break out the short-sleeves. Around here, I think it’s just another event.”

Tuesday’s game might have been a rare event this season in Anaheim--an Angel victory. There aren’t expected to be many, what with a lineup that features six starters with fewer than 2 1/2 years of major league experience.

But one team’s losses are another fan’s gain. There were several spectators Tuesday who were already capitalizing on the no-show factor--season-ticket holders who don’t come to games.

A 30-year-old Los Angeles resident who said his name was Hoover (and declined to give a first name) was standing outside Gate 1 before the game with a sign that read, “I Need Tickets,” even though plenty were available. Another man offered him two $11 club-level tickets for $1 each.

“Everyone is out here eating tickets--one day a guy just gave me two tickets--and you can get half-price for good seats,” Hoover said. “Once your team’s out of contention or even at the beginning of the year, unless a team is red hot, you’re going to find that. This doesn’t happen in other areas, because the fans are more loyal.”

Added John Vanderslice, a 41-year-old from Los Angeles: “There shouldn’t be too much trouble getting cheap tickets this year.”

Getting a cheap beer or hot dog is another story. Prices for Anaheim Stadium concessions are still high--$4 for a beer, $4.75 for a gourmet hamburger, $2.75 for a kosher hot dog, $1.25 for a box of Cracker Jack.

“I’ll still buy a hot dog and a beer, but the last few years, my consumption has gone down while prices have gone up,” Grody said. “I tend to drink a little more before we get here.”

There were some gripes about long food lines in the upper deck. John Trosper, concessions manager for Ogden Entertainment Services, said there was a bigger walk-up ticket sale than expected, and some concession stands were short-staffed in the upper level; lines at the club and field levels were much more manageable.

Fans in those lines had some relief, though. At least prices weren’t raised from last season.

“That was (Angel Executive Vice President) Jackie Autry’s gift to the fans,” said Shari Vallance, a 33-year-old waitress from Yorba Linda. “Then again, it would be nice if they did raise prices--maybe they could afford to pay some players.”

Angel fans were not happy that the team traded starting pitcher Jim Abbott to the Yankees and left bullpen stopper Brian Harvey unprotected in the expansion draft. Harvey was picked by the Florida Marlins and registered his first save Monday against the Dodgers.

Abbott turned down a four-year, $16-million offer and was dealt for three minor leaguers; one, J.T. Snow, hit a home run for the Angels on Tuesday. Harvey had three years left on a contract that would have paid him another $11 million but was coming off elbow surgery.

The Angels felt re-signing Harvey was a risk, and they weren’t willing to go any higher with Abbott. The fans felt the Angels were being cheapskates, not willing to put up the money to put a contender on the field.

But for some fans, the fact that the Angels put any product on the field was more important than how defective that product might be, or that it comes with no warranty.

“I know the team isn’t going anywhere, but they’ll still be fun to watch,” said Van Powell, a 59-year-old season ticket-holder from Chino Hills. “When you reach my age, you don’t get too excited about wins and losses, you just come for the fun of it all.

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