Aramis Ramirez plays third base like a Matador
Posted by: Richie Rich in Announcers, Cubs, Major League, Nationals, Viva Beisbol
During the Cubs-Nationals game on Sunday, Aramis Ramirez put on a defensive display which can only be described as Matador-like. Because he totally got out of the way of a fast approaching bull … ball.
Bottom of the sixth, Nationals trying to extend a two-run lead. Christian Guzman leads off with a sharp grounder to the third base side.
Aramis Ramirez gets in front of it … but not for long.
Guzman was credited with a hit on the play, but I’d call it a Fielder’s Choice.
Because Aramis Ramirez CHOSE to go nowhere near that ball.
Roger Dorn couldn’t have gotten out of the way of that ball any faster than Ramirez did.
The Cubs’ TV broadcasters (Len Kasper and Bob Brenly) did their best Harry Doyle impersonation and made it sound like Ramirez had no chance at that ball … unless he wanted a fat lip.
They put a lot of blame on the hard dirt at Nationals Park – but hadn’t Ramirez just played 23 innings there? I’m kinda surprised they didn’t say anything about Ramirez’ lack of technique there.
Steve Stone would have.
In your first season of little league, one of the first things you learn is how to field a ground ball – because half the kids can’t hit one in the air.
You’re taught to get square your body in front of the ball with your glove down and your other hand above it to help cover the ball and protect your face in case it takes a weird hop.
Worst case, the ball hits you in the chest and you can still pick it up for the throw.
Now that we’ve identified some characters from Major League on the 2008 Cubs … I want to know who’ll play the role of Jake Taylor and have the following conversation with Aramis Ramirez.
Jake Taylor: What I was concerned with was why you didn’t come up with that grounder that Rockert hit in the 9th
Roger Dorn: It was out of my reach, what do you want me to do dive for it?
Jake Taylor: Rog, it could have meant the game!
Roger Dorn: oh come on cut the rah rah shit Taylor! Year after this I go free agent. Plus me and my agent got a couple of plans for life after baseball. So I am not about to risk major injury or displace this property for a collection of stiffs!
Jake Taylor: Ya know Dorn, I liked you so much better when you were just a ballplayer. If you wanna be aninterior decoratorcockfighter – now that’s none of my business.But some of us still need this team. Now you listen to me! This is my last shot at a winner and for some of the younger guys it could be their only shot. I don’t know what happened to you. But if you ever, ever tank another play like you did today, I’m gonna cut your nuts off and stuff em down your f*ckin throat!
Which Cub has the stones to do it?
Maybe Cubs Manager Lou Piniella should just channel his inner Lou Brown and tell Ramirez to get in front of the damn ball and cut this “olé bullshit.”
Entries (RSS)
April 28th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I recall when in Little League, I avoided catching a ball because I didn’t want one in the chopper. After the game my father took me home, made me stand at attention and tossed the ball at my face (not hard but all the same…) to teach me not to fear the ball.
Take one for the team, dammit!
April 29th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Slow news day? Gimme a freakin’ break. Would you prefer to see the Cubs cleanup hitter miss two to four weeks with a broken collarbone or nose – or, worse yet, sustain an eye injury – because he stepped in front of a shot like that? I wouldn’t. As Len Kasper mentions in the clip, the infield was hard as a rock, so, with no runners on base, Aramis was probably just playing it safe.
Could he have done a better job on the play? Probably. But I didn’t think this was that big of a deal at the time, and I still don’t now. In the Cubs recent series against the Mets, David Wright made a key defense mistake. Maybe you can dig up some footage about that and write a clever blog post about him, too.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Daver…please don’t tell me you just compared Aramis with David Wright defensively?!?!?
And this is coming from a guy that just plain hates David Wright.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Oh, and the critique is a fair one.
Even before the hop, Ramirez is taking a step back angling his body towards first instead of squaring up to keep the ball in front of him. Yes it was a bad hop, but it should have hit him in the chest and fallen right in front of him for the out.
BAD DEFENSE.
Stop with injury worry, because by your logic, he shouldn’t ever step in the batters box because a 95 mph fastball might break a rib or something.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Stop with injury worry, because by your logic, he shouldn’t ever step in the batters box because a 95 mph fastball might break a rib or something.
No by his logic he should get his head out of the way when a 95MPH fastball is coming at it. By your logic he should sit there and take for the team.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
My logic is simple: When you are at bat, you are paid to stand in the batter’s box and hit the ball. Sometimes, even if you try to get out of the way, you get hit, and sometimes that leads to an injury. Conversely, in the field, you are paid to field the ball. Most of the time the glove does the work, but sometimes you need to put your body in front of it to make sure that the ball doesn’t go by you. In both scenarios, you assume some risk of injury, but you are still doing your job.
Aramis clearly stepped back and away from the ball instead of doing his job. Hence the Ole!
April 30th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
No, I didn’t compare Wright and Ramirez defensively, Nick. I was trying to express the ridiculousness of taking ONE ISOLATED PLAY and using it to castigate a player. But now that your brought it up, here’s Aramis’s 2007 fielding percentage: .972. Now here’s Wright’s: .954. Now shut up.
Your logic is indeed simple — too simple (and flawed). “It should have hit him in the chest and fallen right in front of him for the out.” Yeah, right. How the hell do you know that? What, do you control the laws of physics? Typical armchair quarterbacking.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I would guess that, in the split second between when the ball left the bat and arrived in Ramirez’s general vicinity, he knew intuitively that trying to make the play could very well land him in the emergency room, so he opted to try to make the play from the side. I mean, even if he had deflected the ball off of his chest, assuming he was still conscious, he still may not have been able to pick up the ball and throw it to first in time to catch the runner. So, all thing’s considered, taking a chance on snagging it from the side seems fairly reasonable.
Or, here’s a wacky alternate ending, maybe Aramis MADE A MISTAKE. Gasp, yeah…I’ll admit that’s a possibility. But my point still stands — if he were making mistakes like this all the time, this ridiculous blog post might be justified. But he doesn’t. So it’s not.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
daver -
2007 is SO last year.
Ramirez’ fielding percentage this year is .933
Yes, I singled out a particular play. So what? We do that all the time when someone does something great. Reed Johnson’s catch on Friday night was spectacularly awesome … but if he ended up on the DL with a broken neck because he laid himself out to make that catch … and did or didn’t catch it … what would everyone be saying?
“That was a stupid move”
And if Johnson hadn’t gone balls out and that ball dropped on the turf within his reach … would you be defending him?
“Oh we don’t want our fielder on the DL”
Bullshit.