In October, we had Rafael Rojas, a Venezuelan baseball writer on the podcast. We talked plenty of baseball, but as I like to steer the show frequently into foreign affairs, we also talked about the state of the nation, and Rojas lamented the rapidly surging crime rate in his home country. One of the biggest issues there is the crime of kidnapping, as Venezeula now has the highest rate in the world. That crime and baseball combined in a disturbing way this evening, as reports have confirmed that Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos, who had just arrived home to join his winter league team, was abducted by gunmen this evening.
Kidnapping and baseball have crossed paths before in Venezeula. Two years ago, Yorvit Torrealba and his family paid a ransom for the return of his son. Also that year, Victor Zambrano's mother was rescued by a raid following her kidnapping, while in the biggest tragedy, the brother of Henry Blanco was kidnapped in December of 2008, with his body found the next day. He had been shot 15 times.
It's easy for us to say that they are rich baseball players and that they should live permanently in the United States under relative safety. It's easy for us because we are not from there. During my time in baseball, I've made several friends there, and the one thing I can say about them, universally, is that they love Venezuela. Many players are now permanent residents of the United States, but they are still targets for crime, as many members of their extended family remain in the country.
There is no answer here, and maybe not even a point, other than baseball is a wonderful fantasy world, and we hope Ramos can return to it, both quickly, and safely.
Thank you for reading
This is a free article. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment.
Subscribe now
Now that he has been kidnapped, do the Lerners offer to pay ransom? Does that guarantee Ramos's safety, or does it endanger other ballplayers. For Ramos's sake, and I guiltily admit for the team's as well, I simply want him out of harm's way, regardless of what it takes to do it.
My prayers go out for Wilson and his mother.
+1/2St.
I hope someone on high is watching over this kid, and I hope that MLB and the US take a public stance with teeth on this issue.
For example, when I first heard of the kidnapping, I immediately went to my MLB app on my iPhone. Under "News", it was THIRD on the list, after a blurb about Matt Kemp and, amazingly, about Mike Maddux bringing humour to the job interview.
Imagine if Dustin Pedroia or Derek Jeter or hey, Matt Kemp had been kidnapped. The 24 hour news cycle would have hit the jackpot! But no, it's a rookie from Venezuela - allbeit incredibly talented with a very promising future - and I can't help but feel that as a non-American, few in the American mainstream care.
And that in itself is a travesty.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/10/what-can-major-league-baseball-do-about-ballplayer-security-in-venezuela/
What's happening in private is something we can only speculate on, but it seems clear some sort of action is ongoing.
But solution is not just for him not to go back home, as that is where all his family is, and kidnappers would target family of his left behind. Absurd terrible situation.
And your Lady Gaga analogue? Way off base. There are, what, millions of "entertainers" out there; there are less than 1000 MLB players. If this even happened to a Pittsburgh Pirate, for goodness sake, it should be top news.
No one is whining. When a society chooses to ignore obvious racial, social, sexual, political or other discriminations, that's when society has lost its way. I feel sorry for you that you find it necessary lower the standard of discourse, to state people are "whining" when all we are trying to do is bring the standard of discourse up.
Incidentally, you are the perfect example of the kind of intollerence you are tired of hearing about! In fact, I have to add that I'm tired of all those yokels whining about the whining!