Angels Accept Apology, Loss With Timidity

Angel catcher Matt Walbeck was spiked viciously at home plate Saturday afternoon by Cleveland’s Manny Ramirez, a play most agreed was not at all sporting.

One Angel player even called it “dirty.”

Ramirez apologized an inning later, though, by which time most of the blood around Walbeck’s groin area had dried.

“You OK?,” Ramirez asked Walbeck.

“I’m all right,” Walbeck told Ramirez.

So, all was forgiven. And the Cleveland Indians defeated the Angels, 6-3, at Jacobs Field, with a clear conscience.

The Angels lost a fourth consecutive game for the first time this season. They lost for the 10th time in 14 games. Their pitching staff is in shambles. Their manager, Mike Scioscia, held a postgame meeting, only the third time he’d felt it necessary to address the club.

And, before a large television audience, as they played desperately to stay in the American League West and wild-card races, the Angels had one of their favorite players cruelly spiked, and chose to let it go.

Ramirez batted an inning later with two out and first base open. He flied to right field on the third pitch from left-hander Scott Schoeneweis.

“It was dirty,” Schoeneweis said. “I don’t think he’s a dirty guy or a dirty player, but it was a questionable play.”

Asked if he considered throwing once inside, merely to suggest to Ramirez that spikes-high, thigh-slashing slides into his catcher would not be tolerated, Schoeneweis said, “You always want to protect your teammates. I tried to send a little bit of a message, but it seemed everything was smoothed out. I don’t know. Tight ballgame. Man on second. I don’t know. I’m young. Nobody came up and told me, ‘Hey, you need to get that guy.’ I don’t want to start stuff. I saw he apologized to Wally. Wally was fine with it. I haven’t been in too many situations like that, so I didn’t know. I know I didn’t need an extra baserunner at that point.”

Ramirez was beaten by the throw from right fielder Tim Salmon by several feet. Perhaps not feeling comfortable about running past a third-base coach who had asked him to stop, he lifted his foot and planted his cleat belt-high into Walbeck. The catcher held the baseball, then turned to his right and gasped.

“He got me pretty good,” Walbeck said.

Ramirez appeared to give him an extra shove, one more shot to loosen the ball. Walbeck was on his knees, bent over, when trainers reached him. He remained in the game.

“It pretty much was a bad play on his part,” Walbeck said. “He apologized. But by no means should he come in spikes high.”

Schoeneweis (5-6) gave up three runs in seven innings. He pitched long enough to rest a bullpen that covered 6 1/3 innings Friday night. He pitched well enough for the Angels to win, but had that chance end when reliever Mark Petkovsek gave up singles to five of the six batters he faced in the eighth.

Former Angel Chuck Finley gave up one earned run--Salmon’s 24th home run--in six innings, and Justin Speier (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings after Finley.

Schoeneweis was not asked to reprimand Ramirez.

“I don’t want him to hit a guy on my behalf,” Walbeck said. “I know he’s on my side. I would rather he not do that.”

The Angels claimed not to be angry with Ramirez.

“I think, I hope, he’s trying to kick the ball out of the glove,” Scioscia said. “I thought it was aggressive. Ramirez apologized to Walbeck. So, maybe he realized he was a little too aggressive.

“Obviously if the player realizes it was, that anything flagrant isn’t going to happen again, you take everything at face value.”

After the game, the veteran Salmon shrugged. He didn’t have much of a view of the play, he said. He said Walbeck didn’t seem bothered by it, and, indeed, Walbeck turned from his locker at that moment and insisted, “It’s not a big deal.”

Still, Salmon said, “It’s fair game now. You get a chance to break up two, take advantage of it.”

Afterward, Ramirez dressed and left without being asked about his slide. The Indians have won four consecutive games. They again feel well enough to contend for the wild card.

They probably do not fear the Angels. They said they were sorry.