They’ll Need Team Effort to Forget This One

The less the Angels remember about Saturday’s 2-1 loss, the better. They left 13 runners on base, went one for 14 with runners in scoring position, twice bunted into force plays and failed to take advantage of the wildness of Dodger starter Chan Ho Park, who walked six and hit two in seven innings.

The Angels granted forgiveness to their starter, Ramon Ortiz, whose baserunning disaster cost himself and his team a chance at victory. Ortiz, a novice baserunner as an American League pitcher, ran through a stop sign at third base, failed to slide at home plate on a close play, then beat the throw but failed to touch the plate and was tagged out.

Said coach Bobby Ramos, translating for Ortiz: “He said he got a speeding ticket coming around third base.”

Had Ortiz scored, the Angels would have led, 2-1, and would have had the option of using closer Troy Percival--15 saves in 15 chances--in the ninth inning. Instead, with the score tied 1-1, the Angels used Ben Weber and the Dodgers tagged him with the loss.

The day’s frustration was most evident in the person of first baseman Wally Joyner, who was ejected after taking--and disputing--a called third strike in the seventh inning, with two out and two on. Joyner is hitless in his past 11 at-bats and is hitting .108 in his past 37 at-bats.

“The key to consistency is having good at-bats,” Joyner said. “Right now, I don’t even have that.”

The Angels and Dodgers produced a joint pregame radio show Saturday, with Angel broadcaster Daron Sutton and Dodger broadcasters Stu Nahan and A. Martinez sharing the microphone for a simulcast on KLAC (570) and KXTA (1150). Clear Channel, which owns the flagship station of each team, suggested the simulcast. Sutton said it could be a precursor to joint promotional broadcasts, particularly in the off-season.

“We need to promote Southern California baseball as well as the two separate teams,” Sutton said. “We don’t have an NFL team, but we have two pretty good baseball teams.”

The Angels were amused by a report Saturday from ESPN’s Peter Gammons, who suggested the team might cease to exist should major league owners decide to proceed with the relocation and/or elimination of several franchises.

Among numerous scenarios under discussion, Gammons said, was one in which the Angels would fold and the Oakland Athletics would move to Anaheim to replace them. While the A’s would finally get their new stadium--Edison Field--and leave the Bay Area to the San Francisco Giants, and while Disney would be rid of the money-sucking Angels, Disney regards its ownership of the Angels in part as a community service. The company is willing to sell the Angels, but it is highly unlikely it would be a party to the dissolution of a franchise anchored in Anaheim since 1966.

“Disney is looking forward to a lot of very exciting Angel baseball, this summer and in the future,” said Tim Mead, vice president of communications for Disney’s Anaheim Sports division.