THE KIDNAPPING

July 23, 2023

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Let's dive in.

Today's first story is about a catcher who was held at gun point and kidnapped in his home country.

Back in 2011, Wilson Ramos was living the dream.

He had just finished his rookie season, made over $400K, and bought his family a new house.

After the season was over, Wilson Ramos flew home to spend some time with family and play in the Venezuelan Winter League.

Unfortunately, in Venezuela, the wealthy have a huge target on their backs, especially if they're famous athletes.

It’s not uncommon for ballplayers and their family members to get kidnapped, held for ransom, and even killed in some instances.

The criminals that execute these operations only have one thing on their mind.

On November 9, an SUV pulled up to his mom’s house and kidnapped Ramos at gunpoint in front of his family.

They drove off and traveled for five or six hours; switching vehicles once and ending up in the middle of the mountains.

It was clear that the men had been planning this for a while.

The abductors had studied Wilson's every move and did a lot of digging on him before they executed the kidnapping.

Investigators also believed there was a Columbian informant that lived near the Ramos family and had studied his daily routine.

As most people know, the first 48 hours in a case like this are the most important, and Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in the world, so it's nothing to take lightly.

Looking back on it, Ramos said he didn't think he'd make it out alive.

The first break in the case came when they found the stolen SUV, a bronze-colored Chevy, abandoned in the town of Bejuma.

After studying past crimes in the area they found a rural house that authorities believed had been used in another kidnapping.

Through further investigation, they determined that the house was being used as a support base by the kidnappers, while they held Ramos in another location.

President Hugo Chavez authorized an aerial search and teams also canvassed the nearby mountainous area by foot.

The two-day search involved about 200 police and National Guard troops as well as helicopters.

Finally the authorities discovered the remote house where Ramos was being held.

About 30 commandos stormed the place and traded gunfire with the kidnappers; no one was killed.

Four Venezuelan men were arrested, and Ramos was saved.

It was 51 hours of hell, but he made it.

Wilson Ramos went on to become a two-time all-star.

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STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

Frank Funk had a super dope name, and a pretty forgettable baseball career.

His best season was in '61 when he went 11-11 with 11 saves.

Crazy enough, Wilson Ramos was rescued on November 11, 2011.

It all connects.

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