No Fans of Stoppage

The last out of the last game of the last day before the strike deadline came at 9:44 p.m. Thursday, when Aubrey Huff of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays grounded out, and who knows when we’ll see a Major League Baseball game again?

An unruly crowd left Edison Field a mess, with fans and players alienating each other on the eve of a potential strike.

After the final out, the Angels shut off the message board rather than promote tonight’s scheduled home game against the Baltimore Orioles.

After the Angels concluded their 6-1 victory over the Devil Rays, neither fans nor players knew whether the Angels would play tonight--or again this season.

In the unlikely but not impossible scenario that a strike cancels the rest of the regular season but not the playoffs, the Angels are in. They lead the wild-card race by a half-game over the Seattle Mariners, and under the current standings they would face the New York Yankees in the first round of the playoffs.

But the playoffs were a distant concern on a night several players said they feared for their safety. In the final three innings before the strike deadline, a small but rowdy crowd of 18,820 let loose some anger, throwing baseballs and beach balls, water bottles and soda bottles, beer cups and toilet paper onto the field.

The players hustled off the field after the last out--outfielder Alex Ochoa said he got hit by a pizza box--and peeked back angrily at debris more reminiscent of the aftermath of a rock concert.

“We’re in a playoff race. We’re your team, supposedly,” pitcher Scott Schoeneweis said. “Let us play.

“When 4-year-olds get frustrated, they throw stuff. Grown adults shouldn’t do that.... We’re not trying to ruin anyone’s fun.”

While players sympathized with fan bitterness over the possible strike, several suggested expressing that bitterness with boos and banners was OK but that throwing objects needlessly put players at risk of injury.

“I don’t think that was a very mature thing to do,” pitcher Jarrod Washburn said. “It was childish and dangerous the way they handled themselves. I’m sure it was a few bad apples that made the whole crowd look bad.”

Said Manager Mike Scioscia: “I was disappointed. I know our fans are frustrated. We’re frustrated. The players are frustrated. But, if you’re going to voice your opinion, let’s not throw a baseball from the upper deck.”

In a ballpark where most fans resist cheering until directed to do so by a scoreboard message, the fans stood in unison in the seventh inning and chanted “NO STRIKE.”

With one out in the ninth inning, they did it again, not so much in unison but this time with props, littering the field with debris.

Earlier, any fan catching a ball, even a foul ball, was urged to throw it back onto the field; one fan did so in the eighth inning and almost nailed Angel pitcher Kevin Appier.

Appier said he did not believe the ball was targeted for him and did not criticize the fans as harshly as his teammates did.

“I feel bad for them,” he said. “I was actually kind of geeked. I like the fans being intense like that. We definitely understand where they’re coming from. We’d like it to be resolved too.”

The rest of the evening was far more pleasant for Appier, who shut out the Devil Rays for the first seven innings.

Appier and Scot Shields combined on a five-hitter, Troy Glaus drove in three runs, and the Angels scored four runs in the first inning to end the suspense in the game and start the countdown toward the looming strike.

“The fans were making a point,” infielder Scott Spiezio said. “They want us on the field to continue the season we’ve been having.

“I’m just glad they let us finish the game so we didn’t have to forfeit. If this thing gets settled but we had to forfeit and we would have lost by a game, that would have been a bad situation.”