ANGELS : Ticket Prices for Opener Cut to $1

As promised, the Angels on Thursday slashed ticket prices for their first regular-season home stand if replacement players are still on the field.

They also announced all tickets for the April 4 opener against Milwaukee will be $1, even if the strike has been settled and the regulars are back in uniform. Season ticket holders will be given a rebate on opening-day tickets.

Tickets will then be reduced by 50% for remainder of the first home stand. The highest-priced tickets, box and club seats that normally cost $13 and $11, will be reduced to $6.50 and $5.50. The least expensive tickets, outfield seats that are $5, will be only $2.50.

The club will then offer refunds on a home stand-by-home stand basis if the strike continues. Season ticket holders will be given a 50% rebate on a month-to-month basis. They also can receive a full refund for any unwanted tickets or parking passes if they are returned to the Angel ticket office no fewer than seven days before the next home stand.

“We got some input from our season ticket customers,” said Kevin Uhlich, Angel vice president of operations. “We didn’t want to seem like we were forcing them to buy season tickets in order to keep their place in line, so to speak. We wanted a situation everyone could live with.”

Uhlich also said the Angels will make opening day a fan appreciation day with prize giveaways to go with the $1 tickets.

“You’d think they’d be able to put some people in (Anaheim Stadium),” Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “I get wired up no matter what, so it won’t make much difference to me. I think for these kids it would make a big difference.”

The Angels also announced two season-long policies that will go into effect no matter who is playing. Children 12 and under will be admitted free to View Level and Pavilion seating areas if accompanied by an adult Monday through Friday. Also, those 55 and older and military personnel will receive $1 off tickets Monday through Thursday, with the exception of opening day and holidays. There is a limit of 10 tickets per purchase.

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Right-handed reliever Mike Schooler, signed to a minor-league contract Wednesday, said he will pitch in spring replacement games and then decide whether to play in regular-season games if the strike is not resolved by opening day.

Lachemann said he believed Schooler would be ready to pitch in a game “within a week, maybe less than that.” He remembered Schooler when he was a dominating pitcher in the Seattle Mariner bullpen in 1989 and ’90.

“He had a nasty, nasty slider and a pretty good fastball,” Lachemann said.

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As the days pass without a resolution to the strike, Lachemann begins to accept the possibility that he will be managing replacements on opening day. It’s clear he’s not thrilled about that prospect, but preparing nevertheless.

“As we go along, it’s more of a definite than a possibility,” he said after the Angels’ 4-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

The Angels ended a 13-inning scoreless streak with two unearned runs in the top of the ninth, prompting Lachemann to say: “I don’t think we’re going to hit too many home runs. We’ll put runs together by walking and stealing bases.”