Russ Ortiz was cruising with a two-hit shutout in the seventh inning of Game 6 of the 2002 World Series when a couple of Anaheim hitters reached with one out.
The Angels were trailing 5-0, but San Francisco manager Dusty Baker came out to replace Ortiz, giving him the ball as a souvenir when he left the mound.
Little did anyone realize that would be one of the enduring moments of the 2002 Series. The Angels bounced back for a shocking 6-5 victory, then won Game 7 to end the Giants careers of Baker and Ortiz.
Before Ortiz prepared to start against Baker’s Cubs in Game 1 of the NL Division Series, the Atlanta right-hander was asked whatever happened to that ball.
“Right now it’s in a box with all my other World Series memorabilia,” Ortiz said. “We just moved into a new house, so I haven’t gotten a chance to put it up. I’ll put it in a little display. It did mean a lot to me, because it meant Dusty was thinking about me and having something special, that, hey, this could be the only chance. You may never get back.
“So he wanted me to have some type of memento, and a ball I threw in the World Series is pretty much the best thing you could have for a pitcher. It was very special to me to have something when your manager, at the heat of the moment at that time of the year, is thinking about wanting you to have something to keep.”
Baker and Ortiz share a mutual respect, but now they’ll be in opposite dugouts in a pivotal moment in their careers.
“I told him when he was a kid he was going to win 20 games, had a chance to win the Cy Young, and also had a chance to throw a no-hitter one day,” Baker said. “I hope that doesn’t happen to us. Russ is a guy you have to get early. If he gets locked in, then he gets very, very tough.”
Ortiz compared Baker to Braves manager Bobby Cox, who treats his players with the same kind of respect Baker does.
“The players want to play for them,” Ortiz said. “They want to go all out for them.
“As for any differences, Dusty was always the kind of guy who would want to come hang out with you and talk about normal stuff, not just baseball. He liked to do that more so than Bobby, which was always kind of fun to watch. He was just like one of the guys.”
