He added: ''I looked up and there was a real big puff of smoke. When I saw the hole, I realized something had fallen.'' Being from California, Mr. LeSuer said that his first thought was that he was in the middle of an earthquake, but then he added: ''If we were in Anaheim, you could see an earthquake happening. But not here. It's New York.''

Yankees officials, scrambling to salvage their schedule, said last night that the third game of the series with Anaheim might be played at Yankee Stadium tomorrow night if city officials gave their approval. Lonn Trost, the team's executive vice president and general counsel, said officials would examine the stadium to see if there were any similar problems before making a decision.

If the game cannot be played at Yankee Stadium, it will be played at Shea Stadium. The game is scheduled for 1 P.M. but might be moved to noon at Shea because the Mets are scheduled to play the Chicago Cubs at 7:40 P.M. the same day.

The officials said they could not move tonight's game with the Angels to Shea because of the logistical difficulties of transferring the ticketing system and preparing the stadium. But tickets for tomorrow's game would be honored at Shea, they said.

While a significant number of fans heard about the postponement of last night's game on the radio before they began to trek to the stadium, others were not so lucky. Anthony Grieca, a self-described 19-year-old ''bleacher creature'' who showed up for the game, greeted the postponement with exasperation. After leaving his job in a Trumbull, Conn., supermarket early and driving an hour and a half to the Bronx, he was turned away at the gate. ''I think I'm in the twilight zone,'' he said. ''This is the worst day ever.''

But Yankees officials and players took the chaos mostly in stride.

''It's just fortunate that it happened here today instead of yesterday,'' Joe Torre, the team's manager, said, referring to the Yankees' afternoon game on Sunday against the Oakland Athletics.

David Cone held a less sanguine view. ''Yankee Stadium is crumbling,'' he said, adding, ''Everybody is in a little disarray right now.''