The 5.5 Hole

I often write about baseball's influence on me, my family, future generations, life, and society.  The story lines of the game provide a balance to the story lines of life.  Never has this been more evident than in the past week.  Unthinkable darkness took place on the campus of Penn State University.  Sexual abuse of young boys has haunted our thoughts, discussions, and television screens for the past week.  And today we learned that a promising young talent with the Washington Nationals, Wilson Ramos, was abducted in his native Venezuela.  The horror we learn of almost daily has to be counter-balanced.  Sports does that for us.

As Joe Paterno was being fired and students were overturning news vans, stories about baseball provided an outlet.  An escape.  To read the what-ifs or maybes of Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder allows our brains to shut out the bad and operate on cruise control.  Baseball has allowed us to do this for generations.  There are other sports.  Other distractions.  But nothing like baseball. 

From the Civil War to the World War I, from the Great Depression to World War II, from Korea to Vietnam to Iraq, baseball has been there.  From Black Monday to the Iran Contra affair, from the Son of Sam to the BTK Killer, baseball has distracted.  September 11th, The Great Recession, Penn State, Wilson Ramos, and more.  Baseball doesn't stop.  Baseball is unyielding in what it does.

With five months to go, the start of baseball's next season can't come soon enough.  Silly stats and debates about the greatest of all-time are still a fall and a winter away.  In between, we have off-season.  We have predictions and outlooks to hold us over.  As we tread through a scandal not seen before in sports history, the winter transactions of baseball executives give us something else to think about.  As we wait, helpless for news of Wilson Ramos, Ramos' beloved sport, our beloved sport, give us something to take our minds off things.

The distraction of sports helps keep us going.  With a game on TV, a trip to the ballpark, or an article here or there, we push forward.  The games will go on and so will we. 

So frightening was the news of Wilson Ramos' abduction in Venezuela that I'm not sure many people know how to respond. The obligatory (and truly heartfelt) messages of concern have been passed around the Major League Baseball community, but no one has ever had to deal with the abduction of a player.

Latin American countries are often known for the kidnapping of wealthy victims. Abduction in places like Venezuela is truly a for-profit business. According to the Venezuela National Statistics Institute, 16,917 people were abducted in the country between 2008-2009. Yet, this is the first instance we know of in which a current player has been taken.

With the increasing number of Latin-born players, Ramos' abduction proves doubly frightening. One, the fact that he was taken is terrifying on its own. Two, if this abduction sets a precedent, the countless number of Latin-American players who travel back to their home countries to live or play ball will be doing so with heightened risk.

Perhaps most terrifying of all is the helplessness. Major League Baseball, the Washington Nationals, or anyone for that matter have very little they can do but wait and hope.

My thoughts are with Ramos and his family. All I can do is hope and wait.