Playing with something to prove

Horacio Ramirez will walk to the mound today for the Seattle Mariners in Cleveland with every reason to prove a lot of people wrong.

There are those who believe he’ll never stay healthy enough to pitch to his potential. Those who say he wasn’t worth what the Mariners traded to the Atlanta Braves to get him – star relief pitcher Rafael Soriano. Those who thought the Mariners should have gone after that other Ramirez – Manny.

But instead of going out to prove all those people wrong, left-hander Ramirez will pitch today for himself, his family and his teammates, just as he does every time he gets the ball.

“What my family did for me, to sacrifice so much for me to play baseball, is motivation,” he said. “Every time I go out there, I’m pitching for them as well.”

Ramirez’s father, Ampelio, was 17 when he moved to the Los Angeles area from the community of Jalostotitlan in central Mexico, about two hours northeast of Guadalajara.

Ampelio, an aerospace machinist, and his wife Margarita had a daughter in 1978 and, a year later, a son they named Horacio. Another daughter was born a few years later, but the family of five remained in their one-bedroom apartment until Horacio was six, when they moved into a house in Inglewood, Calif.

Ramirez played baseball and basketball at Inglewood High School and became a fifth-round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 1997 after his senior year.

Three years later, he showed his potential with a 15-8 record and a 3.22 earned run average at Class A Myrtle Beach. The following year, he made just three starts at Double-A Greenville before suffering an elbow injury that led to Tommy John reconstructive surgery.

He bounced back strongly, reaching the majors with the Braves in 2003 and going 12-4, 4.00 in 29 starts. Then he got hurt again, spending time on the disabled list in 2004 with shoulder tendinitis and in 2006 with injuries that made it seem he was snake bit.

He strained his left hamstring in his first game of 2006 when he tried to beat out a bunt. Later, he sprained the middle finger on his left hand and didn’t pitch the final two months.

Despite his health history, Ramirez is aiming at bigger priorities this year with the Mariners.

“What I’ve got to prove to myself every year is that I belong up here,” he said. “You never know when somebody is going to take this job away from you.”