Baker's Gesture Proves Premature
By RAFAEL HERMOSO
The New York Times
October 27, 2002
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Starting pitcher Russ Ortiz had given the San Francisco Giants so much tonight, more than they had any right to expect after his performance in Game 2.
So when he left the game with one out and two on in the seventh inning and the Giants leading by five runs, Giants Manager Dusty Baker stopped him for one more thing.
"He said, `Great job,' and he asked if I wanted to keep the ball," Ortiz said. "I said, `Sure, I guess.' He handed me the ball back. I think we all felt confident the way the game was going."
Baker placed the ball in Ortiz's glove, an unusual gesture for the situation, and Ortiz thought he was walking off with a victory.
Baker's decision to cut short the most impressive outing of any starting pitcher in this series backfired tremendously. The Giants' relievers fumbled the lead and the team's closer, Robb Nen, was called on in desperation to get the game's final six outs.
Nen failed, squandering the lead to the first batter he faced, Troy Glaus, and the Giants fell, 6-5, to the relentless Angels at Edison Field. The Series lead disappeared and they will have to face a Game 7 on Sunday with so many questions.
What would have happened had Baker not removed Ortiz so early? His pitch count was 98, and he had provided order in a series in which there had been none.
Why did the Giants' relievers again cave in, buried by the fans and the Angels' bats, when Ortiz had navigated them so carefully? Why does Felix Rodriguez show a tendency to allow big home runs here, like the one to Tim Salmon in Game 2 and the three-run homer by the Angels' Scott Spiezio that carried Anaheim back into tonight's game.
What happened to Tim Worrell, the Giants' formerly perfect set-up man? And why did Baker call on Nen so early with another possible game to play?
"I don't think there's a home-field advantage to hitting being contagious," Worrell said.
Baker's slow walk to the mound in the seventh forever altered this Series. He spoke briefly with Ortiz before holding up his right hand to summon Rodriguez. Second baseman Jeff Kent patted Ortiz on his right ribs, J. T. Snow tapped him on the left side, and Baker stopped Ortiz for a few parting words and the baseball, only eight outs to go for a Series celebration.
"Everything went through our minds," catcher Benito Santiago said.
Many pitchers would now take that ball and hurl it against a wall. It is a symbol of how good Ortiz pitched and the effort the Giants wasted. Ortiz said he would save the ball as a souvenir, one he certainly could not take from Game 2, when he allowed seven runs and nine hits in one and two-thirds innings.
"I may never have the opportunity to have a game ball, and I actually do," Ortiz said. "That's pretty much a special meaning to me."
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