They’re Expecting More Support

TEMPE, Ariz. —  The Angels are one of the orphan teams of the Cactus League. Angel fans do not flock here from California, and locals either follow the hometown Diamondbacks or adopt more popular teams as their own.

As the Angels open the Cactus League season today, the city of Tempe hopes the World Series championship persuades Angel fans to visit spring training, with plenty of tourist dollars in hand.

The Angels drew an average of 5,034 fans last spring, barely more than the 4,783 they averaged at their old Palm Springs training site 12 years ago. The Seattle Mariners attracted nearly twice that. The Angels outdrew only the Colorado Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers among the 10 Cactus League teams.

None of the games at Tempe Diablo Stadium are sold out. City officials hope to attract a total of 100,000 fans this year, up from 83,000 last year.

The Angels and a local charity group split revenue from parking, concessions, stadium advertising and merchandise sales. The Angels keep 80% of ticket revenue -- about $500,000 last spring, stadium manager Wil Gorman said -- and the city uses the remaining 20% to cover costs of stadium operations. The city makes money on spring training, he said, when tourists patronize hotels, restaurants and nightspots.

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The phone rang at 5 a.m. After celebrating through the night and into the morning following Game 7, Darin Erstad called his old friend, former Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina. Erstad babbled into the phone about the joy of winning the World Series and the thrill of catching the final out, although DiSarcina said he sounded exhausted and borderline incoherent.

“It was like he was speaking a different language,” DiSarcina said. “I had to pick out the verbs and the nouns.”

DiSarcina arrived in camp Thursday, starting a one-week stint as an alumni guest instructor. The Angels believe DiSarcina would make a terrific minor league manager or coach, and he said he would like to return in some capacity. For now, he is completing his history degree at the University of Massachusetts and following his hometown Red Sox.

“I thought the Red Sox would win it before the Angels did,” he said. “They had two 20-game winners [Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe], a guy saving 40 [Ugueth Urbina], Nomar [Garciaparra] and Manny [Ramirez]. It just proves it’s not always the team with the best talent that wins. It’s the team that plays the best.”

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Erstad, recovering from off-season surgery on his right hand, said he would miss the first few Cactus League games so he can focus on regaining additional strength. He said he was “not concerned whatsoever” about his readiness for opening day. Erstad scoffed at the notion of missing a “rematch” of the World Series when the Angels play the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. “I won’t be ready for Game 8,” he cracked.... The Angels signed reliever Brendan Donnelly to a one-year contract worth $325,000, a raise of $125,000 from last season and $25,000 above the new minimum wage. The Angels also agreed to one-year contracts with catcher Jose Molina, infielder Chone Figgins, outfielder Barry Wesson and pitchers Steve Green and Matt Wise.... John Lackey pitched a scoreless inning in an intrasquad game shortened to one inning because of rain. Catcher Bengie Molina threw out Alfredo Amezaga trying to steal.... Kevin Appier starts today’s Cactus League opener against Seattle, with Wise scheduled to follow. Wise’s rivals for the fifth starter’s job, Scott Schoeneweis and Mickey Callaway, are scheduled to pitch Sunday.