The team is selling 36 seats in boxes next to the dugouts, which was empty space during last year’s regular season and was used for photographers during the playoffs.

The new seats are as close to the field as you can get.

“We saw we could provide an opportunity to our fans,” said Robert Alvarado, vice president of marketing and ticket sales for Angels Baseball LP.

The seats are spilt with 18 just beyond the Angels’ dugout along third base and 18 just beyond the visitors’ dugout at first base.

The seats are being sold in eight-game packages—not as season tickets—and won’t be available if the team makes it to the playoffs or World Series, when photographers would reclaim the space.

The seats cost $215 a game and are sold in packages of four. About 60% already have been sold, according to Alvarado.

The team could sell any unsold seats before each game, he said.

The effort comes as the Angels are dealing with the recession’s impact on season ticket sales.

The “hesitancy” businesses were showing last year for buying season tickets for dugout and other suites has turned into full-fledged avoidance, Alvarado said.

“We’re seeing things play out in a different way this year, more so than in any other downturn,” he said.

Some companies have dropped out completely and others are looking to renegotiate their season ticket contracts, Alvarado said.

“Sales are coming in, but not at the pace we were accustomed too,” Alvarado said.