Visa Is Likely for Ortiz

Angel pitcher Ramon Ortiz shouldn’t have trouble re-entering the U.S. to play baseball this season even though he has been denied a visa based on false documentation, immigration officials said Tuesday.

Luis Ducasse, director of sports for the Dominican consulate in New York, said Ortiz simply needs to get a passport that reflects his correct birth date.

Ortiz was denied a visa by the U.S. consulate in Santo Domingo last week because his passport birth date did not match his birth certificate.

It was then revealed that Ortiz is actually three years older than he had been telling the Angels.

Ortiz actually will turn 29 on March 23.

“We look at this as a harmless story,” Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said Tuesday.

“This is an issue that has come up with ballplayers all the time and I’m sure Ramon’s not alone. My guess is that there are others too.”

Ducasse said such instances were “very common,” adding, “It’s not only with baseball players. [Ortiz] shouldn’t have any problems.”

At the U.S. consulate in the Dominican Republic, an official who declined to give her name would not comment specifically on Ortiz’s case but said that a person in a similar circumstance must only fix the date on the passport to resolve the visa issue.

Stoneman reiterated that he expects Ortiz to report on time to spring training on Feb. 15 in Tempe, Ariz.

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Jim Barrero