Velarde Will Never Give Up

Randy Velarde didn’t pout after bobbling a routine ground ball that led to a first-inning run during Monday night’s loss to Texas. He doubled to left-center and stole third in the bottom of the first and later doubled in the Angels’ only run. But he didn’t forget about it either.

Long after the Angels had lost, 9-1, and fallen a game behind the Rangers, he sat alone in front of his locker, staring at the floor.

Dressing in the adjacent cubicle, shortstop Gary DiSarcina left Velarde alone with his thoughts. “You boot a ball like that and they score and you feel like crap,” DiSarcina said. “But Randy’s a pro. He knows how to deal with it.”

Velarde was still smarting Tuesday afternoon, though.

“I’ll take all the responsibility for the loss,” he said, waving off a reminder that the Angels lost by eight runs. “I set the stage. That’s not the tone you want to set early in a ballgame that important. You just can’t give a team that good any extra opportunities.”

But 24 hours after Velarde’s faux pas, the Angels found themselves in the exact same fix.

Luis Alicea, the first batter of the game, walked and then rookie Troy Glaus mishandled Roberto Kelly’s roller to third for an error. One out later, Juan Gonzalez walked to load the bases. Will Clark singled in one run, and when Ivan Rodriguez hit a line drive up the middle, it appeared the Angels would be forced to try to battle back from another early-and-sizable deficit.

But Velarde lunged to his right, backhanded the ball, twisted in midair and flipped to DiSarcina covering second for an inning-ending double play.

Velarde’s line drive to left in the fourth inning Tuesday night was the Angels’ first hit against Texas starter Rick Helling and another example of what the veteran second baseman has brought to the Angels since his return from the disabled list in August. He sprinted out of the batter’s box and never hesitated as he rounded first and headed for second. Ranger left-fielder Rusty Greer made a good throw, but Velarde slid in safely.

“I’ve always believed there’s no other way to play,” Velarde said, “and when I first came up [with the Yankees, the late] Billy Martin loved the way I played, going from first to third, taking the extra base.

“It sets a precedent, establishes an attitude. You’re sending a message to the other teams. It’s in their scouting reports and it’s in the back of their minds.”

The only thing in the backs of the Rangers’ minds these days is what brand of champagne to start chilling. Helling’s mastery and the Angels’ deteriorating defense--DiSarcina made an error in the fourth and Chuck Finley’s errant throw after Greer’s bunt in the seventh opened the door for three more Texas runs--was the formula for failure Tuesday night as the Rangers moved two games ahead of the Angels with another 9-1 victory.

The Angels are down, but you can bet Velarde hasn’t given up.

“We’ve been resilient enough to keep bouncing back the whole season,” he said. “There’s no reason to believe we can’t do it again.”

And if the Angels are looking for reasons to believe in miracles these days, they can look no further than Velarde’s right elbow.

Before his return, Velarde had been limited to playing two days in two years because of his surgically reconstructed elbow. And when he strained his forearm during that two-day return from the disabled list this May, he actually considered the unthinkable: life without baseball.

“The pain was so excruciating, I thought my career was over,” he said.

He decided to give one more rehabilitation one more all-out effort, however, and has played pain-free since August. But it wasn’t until Thursday in Texas that he finally realized he was all the way back.

With Tom Goodwin, one of the fastest baserunners in the game, on second base, Gonzalez slammed a double off the center-field wall. Goodwin retreated to tag up and then sprinted for home. Jim Edmonds threw to Velarde, whose relay from shallow center field was a one-hop strike to catcher Phil Nevin, who tagged out Goodwin.

“That was the only throw I’ve had to make where in the back of my mind, I still wasn’t sure if I could make it or not,” Velarde said. “It was a great sense of relief, like I had passed the final hurdle. After that throw, I felt like there was nothing else to worry about.”

The Rangers are starting to feel the same way.