Fan Split Between Cheers and Boos : Reaction: Some blame players for letting Collins down, but others say the manager’s personality made the team’s problems worse.

Larry Baxter has been peddling peanuts and beer during Angel games the past 10 years. He has a simple, yet these days, far-fetched dream.

“I want to work an Angel playoff game before I’m done,” said Baxter, who lives in Newport Beach. “I thought this was the year. I bragged to all my friends about it. They all thought I was funny, but I said to wait and see. Now I’m eating my words.”

It was with that same sad resignation that Baxter realized Angel Manager Terry Collins had to go.

“He had a philosophy, but he couldn’t get the players to buy into it, I guess,” Baxter said. “It’s sad, but that is what comes with being a manager or coach now. There are things out of your hands.”

Besides, Collins is the fourth Angel manager since Baxter began working at the stadium. In fact, the turnover has been so great--no Angel manager has lasted beyond his fourth season since Bill Rigney was fired in 1969--that most Angel fans in attendance at Friday’s game at Edison Field thought the change was inevitable.

Injuries may have slowed the Angels, but it was the infighting--whether it was griping about Collins or pointing fingers at each other--that seemed to bury the ballclub in the American League West Division.

“I think there needed to be a change,” said Jay Green, an Irvine resident who shares season tickets. “There seemed to be so much turmoil in the clubhouse and you can’t get rid of all the players.”

No matter how much fans might want to.

“We’re paying $80 million for Mo Vaughn to hobble around?” said Corona resident Don Hall. His wife, Sherry, then interrupted: “Sell him and buy some pitchers. We need them.”

Those types of fixes may or may not come in the off-season. Collins was the topic of conversation Friday night, and opinion was split.

Serene Clayton of Huntington Beach has bought Angel season ticket mini-plans the past few years in hopes of getting an inside track on purchasing playoff tickets. In fact, she has a pair of 1998 Angel World Series tickets in a desk drawer at home.

“We didn’t have to return them,” Clayton said. “They are really beautiful. They are not good for anything, but they are beautiful.”

Her take on Collins: “Getting rid of [him] was probably the right thing to do. He had obviously lost control of the team. Not that I’m happy to see him go.”

Others were.

Dale Marini of Torrance pointed to Houston’s success since Collins was fired in 1996 after three consecutive second-place finishes. The Astros have won two National League Central Division titles since.

“If I remember right, when he was hired he had the reputation of wearing on the players after a couple years,” Marini said. “Look at Houston now. I think Collins had worn out his welcome.”

Collins, though, seemed to have mellowed since his Houston days. And a large segment of the fans sided with him.

Dave Richmond, a stockbroker from Alta Loma, saw firsthand how Collins dealt with fans. His son, Chase, caught Collins’ ear before a game earlier this season.

“Chase yelled, ‘Hey Terry, it’s my birthday,’ ” Richmond said. “Collins came over and signed Chase’s hat. Then he got Mo Vaughn and some other players to sign it. He seemed like a really nice man.

“We have some really good players here . . . Troy Percival, Jim Edmonds--when he’s healthy--Tim Salmon. But I think they have to want it a little more. The only thing a manager can’t teach is desire, and that’s what you need if you want to get the ring.”

As to what sort of manager Angel fans think the team needs next, they aren’t sure. They have seen the team go from the laid-back style of Marcel Lachemann to the hyper Collins, and another mood swing might not be the answer.

But there is one requirement that was suggested.

“Whoever it is is going to need to be a psychology major,” Green said.

Green then pointed to the New York Yankee dugout.

“We had [Yankee Manager] Joe Torre here as an announcer and didn’t hire him to manage,” Green said. “Who would have thought years ago that the Yankees clubhouse would be so calm and the Angels would have so much turmoil? What we need is someone like Torre, someone who can mediate.”