The waiting is the hardest part for everyone who knows kidnapped Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos. The news of his abduction on Wednesday night has stunned everyone who plays baseball for a living. Count Minnesota Twins outfielder Denard Span among them. A former teammate of Ramos’ – who was traded from the Twins to Washington on July 29, 2010 – Span joined MLB Network Radio hosts Cliff Floyd and Jim Memolo on that Sirius/XM channel to discuss playing baseball in Latin America.
“I tell you what, if it’s me and I’ve heard this, I definitely wouldn’t want to go. I’m going be honest with you, just to go over there and get 100 at-bats and, you know, you hear stuff like this and you fear for your life,” Span said. “We have families back here and there’s people over there, you know, people around the world are struggling right now and so people are doing some ignorant things right now. One of our minor league players, I think, went over there and the first day he got there I heard he got robbed. I just heard this last night so I don’t think it’s worth it to go over there and risk your life for 100 at-bats. That’s my opinion.”
Span has a pretty good idea about Ramos’ talent. This is a player the Nats believe will be one of their core pieces for the future. He had a fine rookie season with 15 home runs and a caught-stealing percentage that ranked third overall (32.4 percent) among qualified catchers.
“I got an opportunity to play approximately two or three spring trainings with [Ramos]. In 2010, he came up and did a good job filling in when Joe Mauer was hurt. Just tons of talent, man,” Span said. “I’ve never seen anybody take batting practice the way he does, I’ve never seen anybody throw the ball the way he does. I’m talking about even including my own teammate. He’s right up there with Joe Mauer as far as skill-wise. When I heard the news last night I just couldn’t believe it. I played in Venezuela I think back in ’06 and it’s a safe place but at the same time, you know, a lot of crazy stuff I’ve heard in the past has gone on and it’s just unfortunate.”
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