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Such an anomaly was this that there’s not even a picture of Ramos hitting. You’ll just have to imagine what a confused man looks like holding a piece of lumber. There you go. That’s Ramos.
In the Phillies’ sole victory over the Giants this past weekend, Ramos came on with the score freshly 3-2 in the Phillies’ favor, and shut down San Francisco on ten pitches. Last night, he threw two innings in relief of Vince Velasquez, allowing no runs, no hits, only one walk, and three strikeouts. We were pretty excited about a couple of the relievers’ effectiveness early in the year, and that turned out to be premature.
But in Ramos’ case, I’m sure we’ve got the green light to go nuts!
Last evening, in the Phillies’ thunderous top of the seventh in which they scored six - six! - runs off the Diamondbacks en route to an 8-0 - 8-0! - victory, Ramos even got to do something he has never done before.
Oh man. Edubray Ramos is going to bat for the first time in his life. He is barely standing in the batter's box. He has no idea what to do.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) June 28, 2016
The key to hitting, if I remember correctly, is to hold the bat by the handle, make sure your helmet is facing the correct way, drown out the sea of boos and insults from your many detractors in attendance, disregard the purposefully incorrect advice given to you by your spiteful coach who remains jealous of your youth, and try not to feel the eyes of your teammates seering into you as they mutter about what your comeuppance will be if you strike out again. Little League was such a great life experience!
Ramos was able to recall all of that very valuable information and stood in against Arizona’s Jake Barrett, one thing on his mind: “get to first base.” Or, more likely, “survive.” In either case, he did both, matching the legacy of another Phillies icon in a single at-bat.
2 more walks as a hitter and Edubray matches Larry Andersen's career total. It took LA 4 years to get his 1st walk. Ramos in his 1st AB.
— Larry Shenk (@ShenkLarry) June 28, 2016
Ramos’ success on the mound and the plate is most encouraging. This is a tough year for people who want to get excited, but if we’re not celebrating the little things, like relief pitchers hitting, then maybe you should go cheer for the Cubs or some team that makes it easy to be a fan in 2016.
The game was not without its conflicts, however, as the next issue regarding Ramos’ behavior is perhaps the most important one.
Unconscionable that Edubray Ramos didn't bat flip the hell outta that walk. Just wrong-headed and bad for the game.
— Schmidt's Perm (@bxe1234) June 28, 2016
Send him back down.