Southeast : HOME-FIELD SLUMP

Mired in a management crisis, Long Beach’s new minor league baseball team is slumping at the turnstiles as well.

A spokesman for the Long Beach Barracuda said Wednesday that attendance has averaged a paltry 1,554 people for 19 home games. That’s down about 800 people from the team’s opening home stand in May.

Team spokesman Joe DiMario blamed the slump on competition from the recent pro basketball and hockey playoffs, not the team’s financial problems and leadership fight.

All but a few members of the team’s front office staff resigned last week, citing financial and organizational problems within the club. President Chris Gibbs has been trying to line up investors to keep the team afloat.

Meanwhile, the Barracuda opens a four-game home stand against the division-leading Salinas Peppers tonight at Blair Field. Tickets cost as little as $4 and, yes, there are still pizza giveaways for the section of fans that yells the loudest.