BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : Devilish Field Is Despised

The Angels played Tuesday for the last time this spring at Tempe Diablo Stadium and center fielder Jim Edmonds couldn’t have been happier.

“This field is terrible,” Edmonds said. “Guys have been slipping and falling down, the grass was soaking wet in the middle of the outfield . . . “

Players complain that the field’s grass portions are too hard and the dirt parts too brittle. Manager Marcel Lachemann has met with stadium groundskeepers to discuss ways to improve it for next spring.

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American League and city officials met to examine why the Walt Disney Co. and the city could not seal negotiations that would have led to the company buying the Angels.

Both Disney and the city said they stalemated over stadium renovations and other issues that forestalled the purchase of the team.

But the arrival of American League attorney William Schweitzer set off speculation that the league was pushing the city to return to the bargaining table with Disney.

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Edmonds, batting .483 with seven home runs, and rookie third baseman George Arias, batting .436 with four homers and 14 runs batted in, have been tearing up the Cactus League, but designated hitter Chili Davis is batting .164 and has more strikeouts, 16, than total bases, 13. And right fielder Tim Salmon hasn’t had an RBI since March 10. Salmon, bothered by muscle spasms in his neck, went 0 for 4 Tuesday and was so tired after the game, he said, “I feel like I’m walking around in another body right now.” . . . Reliever Mike James, criticized by Lachemann last week, has responded with several good outings, including Tuesday’s 1 2/3-inning stint, in which he retired all five batters he faced, three on strikeouts.