Posts tagged ‘Aramis Ramirez’

It was announced this weekend that the Chicago Cubs are going to have 7 players represent the National League in this year’s All-Star Game on July 15th. Seven Cubs! By mid-July it’s normally tough to throw a dart and hit 7 of them healthy enough to take the field, let alone represent something that isn’t a pain relief spray or tablet. And while the health thing is debatable on at least one Cubs All-Star, here they are, in all their glory:

Ryan Dempster - SP
Kosuke Fukudome - OF (starter)
Aramis Ramirez - 3B
Alfonso Soriano - OF (starter)
Geovany Soto - C (starter)
Kerry Wood - RP
Carlos Zambrano - SP

Congrats to each of them, and to Cubs GM Jim Hendry, who was directly involved with bringing at least 5 of these players to the Cubs. We don’t often sing his praises, but Hendry has bolstered the club especially in the last 2 years, and has made the Cubs more competitive with his deals each year since he started. Plus, it’s no secret that the day before the 2002 trade of Todd Hundley was one of the darkest days in Cubs history, or what The Rock would call rock bottom. Whenever the Cubs GM retires or moves on, he should be given a room full of plaques for that move. Not to mention any of the other moves that happened in order to bring many of the above players to the North Side.

However, there’s a few duds in every box, so since I had some time I went back and selected a few players that Hendry helped acquire that will represent no one in any All-Star game this year or likely any year. They play the same positions as the talented Cubs players selected by fans, other players, and Rockies coach Clint Hurdle.

Cliff Bartosh - RP
Freddy Bynum - OF (starter)
Todd Dunwoody - OF
Wade Miller - SP (starter)
Josh Paul - C
Neifi Perez - 3B
Les Walrond - SP

Okay, as sad as that list is, I have to admit that I only gained more confidence in Hendry in spending a few minutes looking at the lists of transactions from 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. Jim and the Cubs front office drafted both Tim Lincecum and Micah Owings in the late rounds, but they both refused to sign. If they had (especially Lincecum), maybe the Cubs could have sent 8.

Anyway, best of luck to these players at Yankees Stadium (and at the skating rink, respectively) and thanks to Jim Hendry and his staff for working to better this franchise. They unquestionably have done that.

It was fun chuckling about Pedro Martinez the other day when he was getting all the attention regarding cockfighting in the Dominican Republic, his home country. After all, how often does a sport in one country double as one of the funnier terms that can be used on network television in this country?

Yet now that the spotlight is shining brightly on Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez, the look on my face is . Not because I profess to be Mr. PETA, but because of how deep this rabbit hole may ultimately go. Is it wrong to make reference to the cartoon theory of digging so deep that we get to China, where everything is upside down? I forget. But that’s where this could be headed, and here’s why:

What plays there doesn’t play here

I get it that cockfighting is a gruesome thing, as gruesome as any other animal fighting, and I don’t condone it. But I’m saying that out of inexperience. I’ve never been to a cockfight, so I only have a guess as to what it’d be like. For Aramis, it’s got to be an entirely different ball of wax growing up in a culture that loves cockfighting more than the people that sent letters to Barbaro love Barbaro. I’m not saying it’s right, but it’s just…different.

Asking Aramis to apologize for cockfighting is completely misguided

For Aram to apologize for stuff he does that is legal (and embraced) in the country that he resides for most of the year — it would be totally wrong. He’d essentially be apologizing for an entire culture’s pasttime, which is even more wrong. The only apology I want to read is from the person that put golf on TV. And the person that gave golf its own channel? That person is a nihilist.

How long, how long

Whatever it takes for this to go away, I’ll be happy when it does. This is a fine op-ed piece for the NY Times or the Trib or wherever, but it has no place in or around baseball. Carrie Muskat does not need to cover it in her next Cubs.com mailbag — it’s irrelevant to the Cubs. The bigger issue, though, is the possibility of something like this messing with Aram’s head during the season. I will freak out if that happens. Big Jerry make-a big-a mistake! I had to.