Wooten Returns, but With a Heavy Heart

Shawn Wooten gave his father baseballs from the games in which he got his first big league hit and first home run last season, but what Bob Wooten treasured most was the framed Angel game jersey, with Wooten’s name and No. 44 on the back, that Shawn gave him last winter.

Bob Wooten was buried in that jersey Thursday.

“That’s what he wanted,” said Wooten, who joined the Angels Friday after a weeklong absence to be with his father, who died of lung cancer Sunday. “Everyone signed it . . . he got to wear a big league jersey too, so that was pretty cool.”

It was with a mound of sadness and a touch of relief that Wooten buried his father, who was “in a lot of pain” and drifted in and out of consciousness for several days before he died.

“He’s not suffering anymore,” Wooten said. “He’s in a better place. I’ll miss him, but I have to go on. That’s what he’d want.”

Wooten, who was batting .313 with eight home runs and 31 runs batted in and was the team’s regular designated hitter before he left on Aug. 10, will be worked back into the lineup slowly.

He has never been on the disabled list so he’s not sure how long it will take him to regain his stroke, but he said he didn’t feel mentally removed from the game during his absence.

“When I was home, I was thinking about baseball,” Wooten said. “That’s what I love to do, and that’s the only thing I’m good at, or semi-good at, some days. Now, [Bob] will be watching me from a front-row seat with some pretty good baseball players.”

Tim Belcher took a break from his current project--building baseball and softball fields at his alma mater, Highland High in Sparta, Ohio--to visit the Angels in Jacobs Field on Friday night.

Belcher, who retired in spring training after going 146-140 during a 13-year big league career, said he will decide next winter whether to pursue a career in coaching, broadcasting or front-office management. If he does return to the game, it will probably be in a part-time capacity.

The 40-year-old right-hander, whose last two seasons with the Angels were marred by elbow injuries, has no regrets about retiring, and said he was glad to see the Angels in contention for a playoff berth.

“I expected the pitchers to come around, and they’ve come around nicely,” Belcher said. “They’ve pitched great all year. It’s good to see.”

Tim Salmon’s two-run double in the fifth inning Friday night gave him his first multiple-RBI game since June 5 against Oakland. . . . Darin Erstad’s bloop RBI single in the first snapped his 0-for-14 skid. . . . The Angels started Friday’s game with a 3.87 earned-run average. Not since 1992 (3.84) have they had a team ERA under 4.00. . . . After winning two of three games in Detroit, the Angels are 8-1-1 in their last 11 series.

TODAY

ANGELS’ PAT RAPP

(5-9, 4.42 ERA)

vs.

INDIANS’ C.C. SABATHIA

(12-4, 4.42 ERA)

Jacobs Field, 10:15 a.m.

TV--Channel 11. Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

Update--Rapp has a 3-4 record and 7.14 ERA against Cleveland, and several Indian batters have given the right-hander problems, most notably Juan Gonzalez (.529, two homers), Omar Vizquel (.480), Kenny Lofton (.471), Wil Cordero (.435), Jim Thome (.409) and Ellis Burks (.379, four homers). Rapp, however, has not lost since July 3, going 3-0 with four no-decisions in his last seven starts. Sabathia, a left-hander, is one of the league’s top rookie-of-the-year candidates.