With Angels on Fire, Fans Stay Lukewarm : Baseball: Division leaders play in front of sparse crowds. Post-strike resentment gets most of the blame.

Time was, remembers 73-year-old A. Fried, a warm summer night and a hometown, first-place team would have packed Anaheim Stadium.

But Friday night’s Angels home game against the Detroit Tigers drew a crowd of about 20,000.

“If they don’t come, it’s their loss,” said Fried, a retired jewelry store owner from Garden Grove and Angels fan for 30 years. “I come whether they win or lose.”

Though the Angels lead the American League West and have five starters hitting over .300, four with 10 or more homers, walk-up ticket sales for Friday’s game were lukewarm at best, park officials said.

“I thought after the All-Star break and with the first-place standing, more fans would come back,” said a stadium usher, looking at mostly empty outfield bleacher seats. “But this is really disappointing.”

The club said 21,731 tickets were sold for the game, won 4-3 by the Detroit Tigers. The club does not keep track of an actual turnstile count.

Fans blame the low attendance, especially for a team atop its division, on last season’s bitter eight-month strike. Also, higher ticket and concession prices and Southern California’s many entertainment alternatives haven’t helped either.

“Cleveland sells out every night,” said Orange resident Chris Margeson, a souvenir stand worker for 13 years who has noted a marked decline in sales this season. “We should be doing that here, but I think people are still mad.”

Attendance might have been worse if the Angels weren’t winning. Many park visitors said they came to see the Angels roll over more opponents.

“I came here because they’ve been hitting the hell out of the ball,” said Neil Volaski, a New Jersey resident and New York Yankees fan. “Usually, we hear nothing about the Angels on the East Coast, but now every time you turn on ESPN, they are talking about them.”

Joe Genera, a 32-year-old warehouse worker from Upland, agreed.

“I didn’t have anything to do tonight and I just wanted to get out of the house,” he said. “But it helps that they are winning.”

The Angels have been playing so well that some fans were hoping they would let up just a little--for entertainment’s sake. The Angels’ 10-3 drumming of the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday left 14-year-old Tim Mason bored.

“I’d rather see an extra-inning game instead of the Angels just wiping them out,” said Mason, a ninth-grader from Buena Park who bought his ticket Friday night.

Like many others, Mason was surprised at the relatively low turnout.

“I guess they are still mad about the strike,” he said. “But I’m not mad. I love baseball.”

For some though, it was more than a passion for the game that brought them to the Big A on Friday night. For San Diego resident Ann Wells, it was personal.

“The Angels are on a real hot streak, but I only follow them when they play the Tigers,” joked Wells, mother of the Tigers’ All-Star pitcher David Wells. “Hopefully, my son will turn that around. He’s got a helluva arm.”

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Fewer Fans The Angels may be in first place, but average home attendance has declined 21% from last year after the same number of total games played: 1991: 30,687 (1st place) 1992: 29,018 (6th place) 1993: 26,955 (4th place) 1994: 25,329* (2nd place) 1995: 19,974** (1st place) * 40 homes games ** 35 homes games Source: California Angels