Ortiz Has His Father on His Mind

Look, just because new documentation advanced his age from 26 to 29 last winter didn’t mean Ramon Ortiz had suddenly become three years more fluent in his second language.

The Dominican Republic right-hander is working at it, however. He is trying to express his thoughts and emotions in English rather than leaning on coaches Bobby Ramos and Alfredo Griffin for Spanish translation, and Wednesday night he found a way to answer some very tough questions in a style everyone understood.

Could he help get the Angels back to Anaheim with a split of the first two games in the best-of-seven American League championship series?

Could he do a better job of controlling his emotions, regain his September form (4-0, 2.73 earned-run average) in a 15-9 breakout season and put the memory of his abbreviated start against the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the division series behind him?

Could he continue to overcome the ache of his father’s fight with a life-sapping lung and breathing condition, wishing he could be with him in the Dominican?

As Ortiz left the team’s Minneapolis hotel Wednesday afternoon, he tapped his heart and said:

“When I take the mound tonight my father is right here.”

When Ortiz took the mound, he would call on that heart while displaying more tenacity than artistry, more grit than gloss.

He would provide the foundation for a 6-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins and immediately think of his ailing father.

“I am happy for the opportunity to pitch in the playoffs and I want to go to the World Series, but I also want to be with my father,” Ortiz said. “He is not doing well, and I can only hope he was able to watch me tonight. I know he would be happy.”

The Angels definitely were.

Another meltdown--Ortiz worked only 2 2/3 innings against the Yankees and left losing, 6-1, before the Angels rallied for a 9-6 victory--and his team might have flown home 0-2.

“All players have pride,” pitching coach Bud Black said, “and Ramon wanted this. He wanted redemption.

“After the first inning or so you could see it on his face, see it in his eyes. He was determined.”

Ortiz pitched five shutout innings, allowing the Angels to build a 6-0 lead.

As for the emotion rattling noise of a crowd of 55,990 in the Metrodome?

“I’ve pitched in the playoffs in the Dominican, and there are a lot of crazy people there, too,” he said.

As for the Homer Dome itself, the pitcher who led the American League in home runs allowed avoided giving up any.

He picked Luis Rivas off first after his leadoff single in the third, got double-play grounders after leadoff singles in the fourth and fifth, walked only one after walking four in that brief start against the Yankees and ultimately left during a three-run sixth when his adrenaline finally evaporated.

He was charged with 10 hits, but there is a ‘W’ by his name in the box score, and his team is even, with the next three games in Anaheim.

“This was big for the team and big for Ramon,” said Black. “We obviously needed him to pitch well early. So much of what Ramon is about is confidence, getting on a roll. In the three years we’ve been here as a staff, we’ve seen him take gradual steps along the way, and it’s still happening in every facet of his game. The big thing is that he’s thinking more, not just throwing.”

Ortiz was registering in the mid-90s at times on the Metrodome speed gun, his breaking stuff in the low 80s. In analyzing what went wrong in the Yankee start after his big September, Manager Mike Scioscia said he felt Ortiz “was overthrowing, trying to do too much.” He had gone eight days between starts, Scioscia said, “and we’ve seen that happen with him before when he’s had that much rest.”

This time, Ortiz was working on his normal fifth day, and he said, “I had a good slider, good fastball, good location and good focus. I made too many mistakes against the Yankees and I didn’t have good location. I needed to do this tonight. It was very important for me and the team.”

In the nine innings of two previous starts at the Metrodome, Ortiz had allowed nine runs, but he erased those demons as well before turning it over to a bullpen that gave up only a single in the final 3 2/3 innings.

Fast Francisco Rodriguez worked another 1 2/3 shutout innings, striking out three of the seven batters he faced, and Ortiz smiled and said, “This guy can pitch. Great fastball, great slider. Ninety four, ninety five (mph). He’s nasty. Nobody can touch this guy now.”

So, the Angels went home happy, and now Jarrod Washburn will pitch Game 3 and John Lackey Game 4. Kevin Appier will come back in Game 5, and then the Angels will decide, if the series isn’t over, whether to bring Washburn back on three days’ rest in Game 6 or save him for Game 7, if there is a Game 7.

Should Washburn go in Game 6, Ortiz would have to pitch Game 7, if it’s needed, the biggest test yet for his emotions.

“Look,” said Black, “the guy won 15 games, led our staff in innings and was in the top 10 [in the league] in strikeouts and opponents’ batting average (.230). Nothing is official yet, but we’re not hesitant to give him the ball in any situation.”

A Game 7 would be the ultimate situation, of course, but hasn’t Ortiz pitched in those zany Dominican playoffs, didn’t he hold it together in the madcap Metrodome, and what heavy hitting lineup compares to coping with a heavy heart?

“I love my family,” Ortiz said, packing for Anaheim with his mind on the Dominican. “My dad taught me the game when I was young. I am thinking of him at all times.”