BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Decline in Attendance Expected

Angel executives look around Anaheim Stadium each night, wince at the vast amount of empty seats, and have now become quite worried.

They drew only 20,335 fans Tuesday night against the Boston Red Sox, despite the pitching matchup of Roger Clemens vs. Mark Langston. They have now gone seven consecutive home games without drawing 25,000, and with a total home attendance of 1,158,007 this season, they now believe it will be nearly impossible to attract 2 million fans this year.

Even if everything goes well, and there is no strike, they still project a total attendance of only 1.9 million this season, their smallest in a non-strike season since 1978.

“It’s very disappointing,” Angel President Richard Brown said. “I think the in-park environment and atmosphere is the best we’ve had here. It’s a more pleasant ambience.

“But yet, attendance has dwindled. The only reason I can give is because the team is not performing like we hoped, and the fans are not coming out because of our record. This team could very well win the division, but it may be that no one realizes we won the division. The pending strike is also hurting us. Whenever you talk about a pending strike, people almost have a tendency to give up on the season. It’s like they’re thinking, ‘Why support the team? What difference does it make, there won’t be a season anyway.’ ”

The effect of the Angels’ attendance could be quite painful. The Angels, who have the major leagues’ fourth-smallest player payroll at $23 million, now are anticipating they will lose money, after making a profit last season.

“When you make money,” Brown said, “you’re going to have more money to improve the ballclub. But if you lose money--as it looks like we will--you’re going to have less discretionary money to put into the team. It will have to be money that comes from the owners’ pockets.

“Don’t get me wrong, we’re going to do everything humanely possible to improve this ballclub, but only under financial parameters that make sense.”

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In an attempt to alleviate layoffs during a strike, Brown will inform employees to begin taking paid vacations. “We’re going to require many of our employees to take vacations,” Brown said, “and the whole idea is that when everybody is done with their vacations, maybe the strike will be over. That’s our plan, to try to make is as painless as possible.”

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Angel designated hitter Chili Davis began Tuesday batting .341, an increase of .103 over a year ago. It’s the largest increase of anyone in baseball who had more than 300 at-bats a year ago. . . . Angel right fielder Tim Salmon sat out his second consecutive game because of an aggravated right hip, but was able to take batting practice. . . . Angel catcher Andy Allanson had three pins inserted in his broken finger during surgery that will sideline him for the season.