Cabrera gives fans a Bronx cheer

The New York Yankees might have the most fans, but they don’t have the best fans. So says Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

“They don’t appreciate good baseball,” he said. “They just appreciate the Yankees beating up on everybody.”

The Yankees are on pace to lead the major leagues in attendance for the fifth consecutive season, with fans spoiled by a team that has won 26 World Series championships and has not missed the playoffs since 1993.

But those fans can turn venomous toward opposing players -- and even toward their own, when performance is not in line with expectations.

Cabrera played in Boston, another city with a loud and loyal fan base, before joining the Angels. He gives Red Sox and Angels fans high marks for supporting the home team through tough times and applauding great plays by the visiting team.

“In Boston, they admire baseball,” Cabrera said. “In Anaheim, those fans are some of the best in baseball. They know you care there. They know you can’t do it every day. I appreciate that.

“These people here, they’re mean. And they’re really mean to the other team.”

Cabrera said the hostility in the stands has increased this season, with the Yankees below .500.

“When we came here last year, they were in first place, so it was OK,” he said. “Now they’re just looking for an excuse.”

He is not bothered, he says, by whatever language Yankees fans direct his way.

“When people say [stuff], they only motivate me,” he said. “They’re bad losers.”

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Ron Roenicke would love the chance to manage his own team, but he dares not predict when that might happen. The criteria, he realizes, could be different for each team.

Roenicke, managing the Angels this weekend while Mike Scioscia attends his son’s high school graduation, won two championships in five seasons as a Dodgers minor league manager.

He has had one interview since he joined the Angels as a coach eight years ago, for the Seattle job that went to Bob Melvin in 2003. He has watched as fellow coaches have been hired to manage -- Joe Maddon by Tampa Bay and Bud Black by San Diego.

“Maddon should have managed five years before he did,” Roenicke said. “Joe Maddon is the best coach I’ve ever been around.”

Maddon never played in the majors, which can be a strike in the interview process. You never know. Black had two strikes.

“He was a pitching coach. He had never managed,” Roenicke said. “But I think Buddy’s name is good with everybody in baseball. He had the experience of being an assistant GM in Cleveland. You guys [reporters] like him. He’s sharp.”

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John Lackey, who starts today for the Angels, has struck out Alex Rodriguez 16 times in 35 at-bats.... Reliever Justin Speier, who has not pitched since April 30 because of a viral condition, threw two innings Friday in the Angels’ extended spring camp in Arizona. He is scheduled to throw there again Monday and rejoin the Angels for evaluation Tuesday.... Cabrera’s hitting streak ended at 15 games. Cabrera and David Eckstein are the only Angels shortstops since 1973 to hit in at least 15 consecutive games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.... The Yankees are struggling so mightily that closer Mariano Rivera, who pitched a mop-up inning Saturday, has only three saves, and none since May 3.

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com