Horacio Ramirez

sixto · 05-19-2003, 10:46 AM

How has my life gotten to this point? The Braves are now playing better than .700 ball at 31-13 and of course all we could talk about this off-season was how stupid John Schuerholz was and how the Braves were done.

And of course I never believed the Braves were done in the first place and although I thought the Estrada-Millwood trade was embarrassingly bad and hoped it gave the Phillies an upper hand, I never assumed the Braves were going to collapse the way people predicted.

So today I’m like, let’s take a look at the stats and see who, besides Furcal and Sheffield and Giles, is responsible for this fast start. And while I consider myself a fairly careful follower of baseball, every once in a while the last few years, something will happen that totally throws me for a loop. Today that something, or someone, was Horacio Ramirez. He is 3-2 with a 3.94 ERA and more importantly, is 3rd on the Braves in starts with eight.

Never heard of him. Never saw a box score with him in it. Never heard him mentioned on Sportscenter. Don’t remember reading about him in John Sickels’ prospect books or Baseball Prospectus. Granted I might be thinking of Horacio Estrada, and here the homogeneity of Latin names sometimes is a challenge for U.S. minds.

However, how is it that someone who’s in first place in his fantasy baseball league, who reads about baseball every day, who reads BP from cover to cover every spring, how is it that I went 44 games into the 2003 season without hearing about a pitcher who’s essential to a first place effort?

I suppose it happened the same way that the Nets beat the Pistons in game one without me even knowing that the Sixers had been eliminated. Sometimes, and this has happened increasingly since I shut down the bachelor pad 3 years ago, the sports world just happens without me. I don’t know who approved this, but it’s started to happen.

Oh well. At least I know that Funny Cide can win the triple crown.

SmoothLikeNick · 05-19-2003, 12:00 PM

hmmm.. thats a tough one to miss if you follow the Braves at any level of consistency.. their stupid announcers can't go 34 seconds without mentioning him....

But seriously, Horacio was at one point like 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA in the spring.. ended up with a huge spring, microscopic ERA, and was pretty set to knock Byrd or Hampton out of the rotation to start the year. Turns out he didn't have to because they both started the season DL'ed.

Steve Kuffrey · 05-19-2003, 12:16 PM

all good

Gastric ReFlux · 05-19-2003, 12:23 PM

Gack. Sixto, if you were a proper Phillies phan, you wouldn't have mentioned such evil like the Braves.

LivnLegend · 05-19-2003, 12:44 PM

For the record, I did pick the Braves to win the division here on this board and in Dxgarret's contest.
I'd like to also say I picked the Mets for last but truth be told, I did think they'd finish at least 4th!

05-19-2003, 10:46 AM	#1
sixto Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 2,262	Horacio Ramirez How has my life gotten to this point? The Braves are now playing better than .700 ball at 31-13 and of course all we could talk about this off-season was how stupid John Schuerholz was and how the Braves were done. And of course I never believed the Braves were done in the first place and although I thought the Estrada-Millwood trade was embarrassingly bad and hoped it gave the Phillies an upper hand, I never assumed the Braves were going to collapse the way people predicted. So today I’m like, let’s take a look at the stats and see who, besides Furcal and Sheffield and Giles, is responsible for this fast start. And while I consider myself a fairly careful follower of baseball, every once in a while the last few years, something will happen that totally throws me for a loop. Today that something, or someone, was Horacio Ramirez. He is 3-2 with a 3.94 ERA and more importantly, is 3rd on the Braves in starts with eight. Never heard of him. Never saw a box score with him in it. Never heard him mentioned on Sportscenter. Don’t remember reading about him in John Sickels’ prospect books or Baseball Prospectus. Granted I might be thinking of Horacio Estrada, and here the homogeneity of Latin names sometimes is a challenge for U.S. minds. However, how is it that someone who’s in first place in his fantasy baseball league, who reads about baseball every day, who reads BP from cover to cover every spring, how is it that I went 44 games into the 2003 season without hearing about a pitcher who’s essential to a first place effort? I suppose it happened the same way that the Nets beat the Pistons in game one without me even knowing that the Sixers had been eliminated. Sometimes, and this has happened increasingly since I shut down the bachelor pad 3 years ago, the sports world just happens without me. I don’t know who approved this, but it’s started to happen. Oh well. At least I know that Funny Cide can win the triple crown.

05-19-2003, 12:00 PM	#2
SmoothLikeNick Minors (Single A) Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 70	hmmm.. thats a tough one to miss if you follow the Braves at any level of consistency.. their stupid announcers can't go 34 seconds without mentioning him.... But seriously, Horacio was at one point like 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA in the spring.. ended up with a huge spring, microscopic ERA, and was pretty set to knock Byrd or Hampton out of the rotation to start the year. Turns out he didn't have to because they both started the season DL'ed. __________________ Lick it... Lick it good. vrMLB- Minnesota Twins

05-19-2003, 12:16 PM	#3
Steve Kuffrey Administrator Join Date: Jul 1999 Location: S.E. TN - Georgia born and raised Posts: 17,023	all good __________________ Steve Kuffrey DABS Atlanta Braves - 2008 Eastern Division Champ *DBLC Atlanta Braves - 2011, 2014 East Division Champ, 2012, 2013 NL Wildcard Baseball Maelstrom-Montreal Expos-2013 Tourney winner, 2014 WC Team Sparky's League - Tampa Bay D'Rays Epicenter Baseball League - Astros 2014 The CBL Rewind - Phillies '95

05-19-2003, 12:44 PM	#5
LivnLegend Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: 100% pure adrenaline! Posts: 5,624	For the record, I did pick the Braves to win the division here on this board and in Dxgarret's contest. I'd like to also say I picked the Mets for last but truth be told, I did think they'd finish at least 4th! __________________ Excess ain't rebellion. You're drinking what they're selling.

05-19-2003, 12:23 PM	#4
Gastric ReFlux Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Member #3409 Posts: 8,350	Gack. Sixto, if you were a proper Phillies phan, you wouldn't have mentioned such evil like the Braves.