Unbalanced Schedule Suits Team Just Fine

The Angels will play Oakland 20 times and Seattle and Texas 19 times each in 2001, as baseball returns to the unbalanced scheduled so many players have been clamoring for.

According to the tentative schedule distributed to teams, the Angels will open 2001 with 19 games against American League West foes and close the season with 19 intra-division games.

Players believe it will add excitement to division races in September and give teams chasing leaders a better chance to catch up. The Angels believe they could have benefited from an unbalanced schedule this month.

Their final 10 games are against Texas, Oakland and Seattle, but they’ll have spent the bulk of September playing Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Minnesota and Kansas City.

“I wish we had more games against the teams directly in front of us,” pitcher Tim Belcher said. “If we had six games each against Oakland and Texas, it could be interesting. The division could flip-flop in a week.”

The Angels will play all five Central teams--Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota and Kansas City--nine times next season, with only one trip to Chicago, Minnesota and Kansas City.

Their schedule against East teams includes nine games against Toronto, Baltimore and Tampa Bay and seven against New York and Boston. The interleague schedule remains the same, with six games against the Dodgers and three against San Francisco, Colorado, Arizona and San Diego.

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Angel scouting director Donny Rowland said last week’s signing of college pitcher Chris Bootcheck for $1.8 million will prevent the team from pursuing any more players from Latin America this year.

The Angels signed Johan Quezada Santana, a highly touted 16-year-old from the Dominican Republic, for $700,000 last week and were scouting several other Dominicans until Bootcheck signed.

Bootcheck, a 6-foot-5 right-hander from Auburn, was introduced at an Edison Field news conference Tuesday and will report to the Angels’ instructional league in Mesa, Ariz., this weekend.

“It’s really exciting, because I know I’ll have a future with this organization,” Bootcheck said. “With them bringing up so many young guys this year, it motivates me even more.”

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The Angels went 3-4 in coin flips to determine home-field advantage should one-game playoffs be necessary to decide the AL West champion and wild-card winners. In the West, they would play host to Seattle but travel to Oakland. In the wild card, they would play host to Cleveland and Oakland but travel to Toronto, Boston and Seattle. . . . The Angels announced that the entire coaching staff--Joe Maddon (bench), Bud Black (pitching), Mickey Hatcher (hitting), Ron Roenicke (third base), Alfredo Griffin (first base) and Bobby Ramos (bullpen)--has agreed to terms on contracts for the 2001 season.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

RAMON ORTIZ

(5-5, 5.72 ERA)

vs.

DEVIL RAYS’

CORY LIDLE

(1-1, 9.57 ERA)

Edison Field, 7

TV--Fox Sports Net.

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Update--Which Ortiz will show up tonight? The one who got bombed for nine runs on eight hits and recorded only two outs against the White Sox Sept. 3 or the one who allowed only one run on three hits in 7 2/3 innings against the Orioles Friday night? The Angels would love to see some more consistency from their young right-hander from the Dominican Republic. Lidle is a former West Covina South Hills High pitcher who will have some 60 friends and family members in attendance tonight.

* Tickets--(714) 663-9000