BASEBALL ‘94: Going, Going. . .Gone : It’s the Straw That Breaks Autrys’ Backs : Angels: Owners will eventually sell team for $130 million after an agreement. Disney a possible buyer.

Angel owner Jackie Autry, who has warned for years that major league baseball was headed for calamity, no longer bears the burden of proof.

Autry signed the document that formally ended the 1994 season Wednesday, then said that she and her husband, Gene Autry, have decided to sell the ballclub.

She added, however, that there will be no sale until there has been resolution of baseball’s labor dispute.

The Autrys have told four prospective buyers that they are asking $130 million, although only 23% of the club will be sold while Gene Autry, 87, remains alive.

“I know I’ve said repeatedly that the club is not for sale, but it’s come to a point where enough is enough,” Jackie Autry said. “You can only take so much money out of your own pocket.

“We just had to make that decision to do something to make more people responsible for the bottom line.

“I think it’s about time fans and the media understand that here you have an owner who loves baseball, but the current situation makes it impossible for him to carry the burden himself.”

Terms of the sale, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, stipulate an immediate $30-million fee for 23% of the club. The minority owner then will be required to pay Autry $3 million each year to maintain the option to purchase the rest of the club within six months of Gene Autry’s death.

The new owner will become managing partner immediately, according to Jackie Autry, responsible for all operating costs, and any possible debt. The Autrys, however, will receive 67% of profits until 100% completion of the sale.

“Gene loves baseball, but he’s 87, and it’s time for him to relinquish total control of the club,” Jackie Autry said.

“Nobody is a bottomless pit. Everybody keeps saying Gene Autry is so rich. . . . Well, it’s nobody’s business whether Gene is worth one penny or $300 million. How long do you want to keep borrowing just to pay the payroll?

“This has been like a freight train coming down the track and no one has stopped it. I was the first to say this back in 1990, and people said, ‘Well, that’s Jackie Autry. What does she know about baseball?’ ”

She would not identify the four prospective buyers, but it is believed she has had preliminary negotiations with Walt Disney Co. and billionaire Marvin Davis.

Gene Autry paid $2 million for the expansion club in 1961, but has been operating it the last five years without any minority partners. Jackie Autry said the team will lose $8 million this season.

“It’s just so depressing,” she said. “It’s sad when it has to come to this.”

Autry’s problems are a microcosm of the financial difficulties major league owners say they are enduring, and it is why major league baseball officially shut down the season Wednesday.

“I never thought I’d be embarrassed to be a major league ballplayer, but I am now,” Angel infielder Rex Hudler said. “I can’t even look people in the face right now.

“It’s a horrible thing, and everyone that was part of this will be scarred for the rest of their lives.”

Hudler, so angered at the news Wednesday, ripped his shirt while watching acting commissioner Bud Selig’s press conference, sending buttons flying.

Angel players were told of the official decision in a conference call conducted by Mark Langston, their player representative.

Until there is a settlement, the Angels will be wondering about their futures. Will the new owner make front-office changes? What will happen to their free agents--Bo Jackson, Harold Reynolds, Bob Patterson, Ken Patterson, Hudler and John Dopson? When can the Angels resume negotiations with Chili Davis about a multiyear contract that will pay him about $4 million a year?

Angel President Richard Brown said, “Right now, we can’t do anything with any intelligence because we don’t know what rules we’re operating on. We’re just going to have to wait.”

The Angels have eight players under contract for the 1995 season, but no one knows what will happen to the rest. Several owners privately say they will open spring training camps on time next season, and if there still is no labor agreement, will invite players to come into camp, crossing the picket lines.

“Brian (Anderson) said to me the other day, ‘Mom, what would I do?’ ” said Janet Anderson, mother of the Angel rookie pitcher. “ ‘I don’t have millions sitting around.’ ”

Anderson, who has begun taking accounting classes at Wright State in Dayton, Ohio, said he would not cross picket lines.

“There’s going to have to be a time when a decision has to be made, but I’m not going to be a trend setter and cross,” he said.

Said rookie outfielder Jim Edmonds: “It’s just amazing what this has done to all of us. It’s like I don’t even care about the World Series. I’m not a fan anymore.”

The Angels now are left with the bitter taste of a 47-68 season, second-worst winning percentage in franchise history.

Most painful, of course, is the idea that baseball will be left without a World Series for the first time since 1904. What once seemed incomprehensible has become reality.

Said outfielder Tim Salmon, “We made history, and it’s sure a lousy feeling to know you’re part of it.”