Comments on: More details emerge about the kidnapping of Wilson Ramos

By: foreverchipper10

foreverchipper10 — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:00:40 +0000

I am just as worried as anyone about this but really, they used a Captiva? Was the other vehicle used an Escape?

By: airedale1950

airedale1950 — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:27:08 +0000

Play Ball in the USA…live in the USA year round. Don’t like it…go play in Japan or Korea. Spend US dollars in the US. Make it an MLB mandate in every contract. The exception being the Blue Jays…Canada or USA only. Off season in season…leave the grime and the crime in Latin America and “rough” it here in the US of A.

By: Francisco (FC)

Francisco (FC) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:18:23 +0000

You’ve made a series of assumptions about me that are all pretty much incorrect. The Venezuela situation interests me since I was born there and lived there till recently. I’ve been personally mugged twice in Caracas. My wife mugged twice there. My Grandfather assaulted given a horrible bruise to his eye. My aunt and uncle had two shotguns shown to their faces to steal my aunt’s car (while they were driving to a drugstore to get medication for my Grandfather’s eye). I’ve walked downtown Caracas which is dangerous any time of the day if you’re not careful and aware of your surroundings. One friend was kidnapped express style with his girlfriend forced to go ATM to ATM and withdraw money and then left to fend for themselves locked in the trunk of his car until he was finally able to get out. Another friend has had her home robbed twice with the crooks moving them and tying her and her family up in the dead of the night to steal all of their belongings. One other friend barely escaped getting carjacked but her car still got a bullet to show for it.

The one common thread to all this is that all these people survived their experiences and continue to live with their families and loved ones. Yes something really bad could happen. It’s not pretty, it’s a terrible ordeal, but more often than not the victim has come through alive. Let’s hope that Wilson Ramos will be ransomed soon and returned to his family. There are good odds this will happen and that’s the important thing we should hold on to. My point is there is no need to think this will end tragically. There’s not enough information to assume things are dire, kidnappings can take weeks to resolve…

By: Alex K

Alex K — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:57:53 +0000

I’m pretty sure that his post had nothing to do with sports.

Hey, have you ever added anything to a conversation on HBT?

Of course not. Please go away.

By: tashkalucy

tashkalucy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:27:39 +0000

Thanks for “settling” me down.

I was going up a wall.

Hey, have you ever gotten out of your suburb and driven down to your central city to see what happens in America every day of the week?

Of course not. Only sports matter.

By: chobes68

chobes68 — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:15:48 +0000

I don’t know how that could be in the rules, but you never know. Irregardless, I wouldn’t be surprised if a team stepped up, but I’m sure they would do everything to distance themselves from the help, so they don’t set a precedent for each and every player from countries where things like this are commonplace.

By: ThatGuy

ThatGuy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:50:29 +0000

Silva actually lives in North America year round, he married a Minnesota girl when he played with the Twins. Believe he still resides here in the offseason.

By: cogitobaseballergosum

cogitobaseballergosum — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:00:49 +0000

It was already found, abandoned, this morning.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/10/vehicle-used-in-ramos-kidnapping-found/

By: dlevalley

dlevalley — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:59:58 +0000

Also, on a completely unrelated (and lighter) note, Lerner apparently started his company with a $212 dollar loan from his wife. Wow.

Makes me think I should go ask my lady for a loan tonight, but then I realize I wouldn’t have the first clue as to what to do with it. Turns out I was born without money OR smarts.

By: bigxrob

bigxrob — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:57:00 +0000

Heyman tweeted that anibal Sanchez canceled his December flight to Venezuela

By: dlevalley

dlevalley — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:55:22 +0000

My (completely uneducated) guess is that if the the ransom was large enough that Ramos couldn’t pay it, and the Nationals wanted to help, that they would funnel money through Ted Lerner. The guy’s worth $3.5 billion, according to wiki.

I mean, if a guy with $3.5 Billion wants to make something happen in a situation like this, no one will ever know *where* the money came from.

By: allday296

allday296 — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:51:00 +0000

Terrible that these things happen, no one should ever feel threatened in their own country(or any country) or for that matter should have have to lock their door in their own home. People who commit these types of crimes should be locked up for life, or something worse.Prayers go out to the Ramos family

By: rexryanisablowhard

rexryanisablowhard — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:33:06 +0000

The Captiva is a relatively new model (5 yrs), so gotta imagine an orange one would be pretty easy to find, no??

By: shawnuel

shawnuel — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:15:31 +0000

I wonder if we will start seeing King Felix, and other Venezuelan stars who have been very well payed, start to migrate north year round? Carlos Silva….he can stay.

By: bryan8188

bryan8188 — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:05:35 +0000

There is no way the Nationals would step up and pay the ransom. That is not a slight on them at all but by doing that, they would set a VERY dangerous precedent for all players in all sports.

By: ThisIsBaseball

ThisIsBaseball — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:01:06 +0000

I’ve been wondering this since it happened. Especially because Ramos made the minimum last season. Kidnappers want $1mm, then what? I think either way it sends a dangerous message. Either the MLB/MLBPA/Teams don’t care about the players and their safety, or any MLB player becomes open game to kidnappers in Venezuela and possibly other countries that are just as unstable (e.g., Mexico). Either way, it’s a real crappy situation. I hope Ramos comes out okay…

By: drmonkeyarmy

drmonkeyarmy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:58:26 +0000

Yeah, that is what I was thinking. He made something like 400,000 last year so after taxes and living expenses, it seems to me that he wouldn’t have that much left to pay a large ransom. I don’t know if he got paid a signing bonus when he first signed with the Twins though.

By: Jeremiah Graves

Jeremiah Graves — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:54:14 +0000

That’s a legit question, because Ramos has yet to make “big money” as a big league ballplayer and it’s entirely possible the kidnappers will ask for way more than Ramos can offer.

By: drmonkeyarmy

drmonkeyarmy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:44:17 +0000

This situation is really bothering me. It is incredibly fucked up and suspicious. Here is this guy walking down the street with his family, signing autographs for little kids and he gets kidnapped. Just terrible. I have a question for anybody who might know: say the kidnappers ask for a ransom that is too much for the Ramos family to pay, could the Nationals step up and pay the ransom or is that against the rules?

By: Francisco (FC)

Francisco (FC) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:42:39 +0000

We should settle down. This still looks like a straightforward Kidnapping… yes the situation is frightening and fraught with danger. But Kidnappers are not in the business of killing their hostage when there’s good money involved. It may be that he’s being moved around until they are comfortable the police have not tracked them and they are setting up a video to present a proof of life. I am optimistic that Wilson Ramos will come through relatively unharmed (I say relatively because obviously no matter that this is a terrible ordeal!)