Gathering Storm Adds to Angels’ Frustration : Baseball: After 4-3 loss to Royals, team heads to Chicago to await word on possible strike.

The hotel operator will leave early wake-up calls in Chicago this morning for the Angels, and some time around 9:30 they will groggily begin boarding the team bus.

Instead of departing for Comiskey Park, the Angels will be heading to Chicago O’Hare Airport.

That is where they might learn how much longer they’ll be playing baseball this season.

The Angels surely could choose better ways to spend their mornings, particularly after losing again Wednesday night, 4-3 to the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, and taking a late-night flight to Chicago.

Yet, the Angels say this could be the most critical meeting in their baseball careers.

“Personally, I’ve been trying to put it out of my mind as much as possible,” Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina said, “but these may be our last games of the season.”

Said pitcher Chuck Finley: “It’s like seeing a storm rolling in from two or three miles away. You see it coming, but there’s nothing you can do about it but get ready to put the tarp on.”

Don Fehr, executive director of the Major League Players Assn., will address the Angels and many player-representatives about the owners’ new labor proposal. It’s possible that a strike date will be set.

“They keep talking about a competitive balance, and that really bothers me,” said Mark Langston, Angel player-representative. “I’m not buying that, because there is competitive balance. Look at how many different teams keep winning. It’s not like the big-market teams are dominating.

“Really, the competitive-balance concept is a joke.”

The Angels (27-39) believe a strike is a certainty, with a maximum of $147,000 reserved in the strike fund for each veteran player who has been in the big leagues since 1990. Angel management says a work stoppage could be just as devastating.

Despite the Angels’ $23-million payroll, the fourth lowest in the major leagues, the Angels could lose in excess of $8 million if there is a prolonged strike.

Angel President Richard Brown could not comment on how much the club could lose, but did say that a lengthy strike could result in personnel layoffs.

“If there’s a strike,” Brown said, “we’ll lose significant dollars. That would take away a lot of revenue, and we’re cutting very few expenses.

“You run into a situation where your revenue sources are gone, and you may have to lay off employees to reduce expenses.”

Yet, if a salary cap is put in place as the owners desire, Brown believes the Angels’ fate could soon change.

“The teams that have the ability for big payrolls are fielding far superior teams than us,” Brown said. “We’re just hopeful we can play on a level playing field some day.”

Certainly, that is not occurring these days, with the Angels losing for the 13th time in the last 17 games. It’s only the seventh time this season they lost a game when they yielded four or fewer runs, but it hardly eased their pain.

The Angels, who have lost 32 of 33 games when trailing after the seventh inning, overcame a 3-1 deficit. Jim Edmonds hit a run-scoring double in the eighth. And in the ninth, Bo Jackson led off with a pinch-hit double. DiSarcina sacrificed pinch-runner Mark Dalesandro to third, and he scored on Spike Owen’s single.

Yet, the Royals made it moot when Hubie Brooks led off the ninth with a pinch-hit single off reliever Craig Lefferts. Felix Jose grounded into a fielder’s choice, but former Angel Wally Joyner followed with a single to right, advancing Jose to third.

Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann summoned right-hander Mark Leiter to face Jose Lind. Leiter quickly got ahead on an 0-and-2 count, but Lind was able to hit a slider into shallow center field.

Chad Curtis caught the ball, but his throw to the plate was about 20 feet up the line, and Jose scored easily with the winning run.

Angel starter Joe Magrane yielded seven hits and three earned runs in 7 1/3 innings.