Ortiz Aging Gracefully, but Worries About His Father

Ramon Ortiz sure looked good for a guy who aged three years in one winter, as his teammates were all too eager to remind him. On the first day of spring training Saturday, Ortiz absorbed plenty of good-natured kidding about playing three years in the major leagues before the Angels discovered his true age.

Ortiz took it in stride, but his smile masked a heavy heart. His father is seriously ill, he said, fighting lung cancer back home in the Dominican Republic.

Ortiz pitched a career-high 209 innings last season and, as a result, opted not to play in the Dominican winter league. But his father wanted to see him pitch one more time, unsure if he would be strong enough to travel to the United States this summer and whether he would be alive next winter.

So Ortiz pitched one game in the Dominican league, to honor his father’s wish. “If he dies now, he’ll die in peace,” Ortiz said through coach and interpreter Alfredo Griffin.

Ortiz, who will turn 29 instead of 26 next month, said he did not intend to deceive anyone about his age.

In the Dominican, as in rural areas of the United States, local intermediaries can tip off scouts from major league organizations about unseen talent. In 1995, when one of those intermediaries told Ortiz he could generate interest among major league scouts, Ortiz provided his birth certificate as required.

Jose Gomez, the scout who signed Ortiz, was given a certificate listing Ortiz’s birth date as March 23, 1976.

The intermediary, whom Ortiz did not name, told the pitcher he would alter the birth certificate so Ortiz would be listed as 19, not 22, and thus become more attractive to major league teams.

“I said I didn’t want to do it, but he said it was the only way I could play baseball,” Ortiz said. “He said don’t worry, you’ll be OK.”

Ortiz was OK until this winter, when U.S. officials processing his visa request noticed the birth date on his passport did not match the one on his birth certificate. With the federal government tightening border controls in the aftermath of Sept. 11, Ortiz was one of several Dominicans caught shaving years off his age. Atlanta shortstop Rafael Furcal is 23, not 21; the same is true for Chicago Cub pitcher Juan Cruz.

Even before Sept. 11, major league officials signaled their intention to crack down on the oft-suspected practice of falsifying documents. They opened an office in the Dominican Republic that scrutinizes birth certificates and other official documents before teams are allowed to sign Dominican players.

At this point, the Angels don’t care how old Ortiz is as long as he wins. Said Griffin: “I told him, win 20 games and nobody will care.”

Even General Manager Bill Stoneman, in discussing the Angels’ expanded Dominican operations, made light of the revelation of Ortiz’s age.

“We’ve signed a number of young guys there,” Stoneman said. “At least we think they’re young.”

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With one entirely understandable exception, all 28 pitchers and nine catchers reported on schedule. The exception: reliever Ben Weber, who remains at his Texas home after wife Marisa gave birth to triplets Tuesday. Manager Mike Scioscia said Weber is expected to arrive in camp Monday.