Hanley Ramirez's Walk-Off Home Run Against The Yankees Gave The Red Sox Their Biggest Victory Of The Year
Sixteen years, two months, and fourteen days, or five thousand, nine hundred and twenty days total.
That’s the amount of time between the Red Sox signing Hanley Ramirez as 16-year-old international free agent, and that walk-off home run last night. After signing with Boston on July 2, 2000, Hanley made his major league debut with the Red Sox in 2005, getting two at-bats spread out over two games as a September call-up, striking out in both. Then he was gone. That offseason, after Theo Epstein left his post as Red Sox general manager for a brief stint (he later admitted he never would’ve traded Hanley had he still been the GM), co-general managers Ben Cherington and Jed Hoyer traded Hanley as part of a four-player package to the Florida Marlins for Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota.
The Marlins got the 2006 Rookie of the Year, and the 2009 batting title winner and MVP runner-up. The Red Sox…well, the Red Sox got a World Series title. The Hanley for Beckett and Lowell deal will go down as one of the most fair and even trades of all-time. From there, Hanley was traded to the Dodgers, where he enjoyed even more success, achieving another top 10 finish for MVP in 2013. Two years later, for the first time as a professional baseball player, he was granted free agency with the opportunity to join any organization that he wanted. He chose Boston. He chose to come home.
One of the biggest reasons why Hanley chose to return to Boston was to win a World Series, and that point was driven home by his former Portland Sea Dogs teammate, Dustin Pedroia.
“He said, ‘I’ve got two rings. You don’t have any. I want some more,'” Ramirez said. “That kind of thing pumps you up.”
Hanley’s first full season in Boston was a disaster. I’m guilty of thinking that his second season would be, too — at least defensively — although, I came around on Hanley the first baseman in spring training, so at least I can say that I came around on him a lot sooner than most. But whether you believed in Hanley before this season or not, he more than likely exceeded your expectations, regardless of where you stood on Opening Day.
That walk-off home run for Hanley last night gave him an even 25 home runs and 100 RBI this season. This is his highest home run total since he hit 33 homers in 2008, and only the second time in his 12-year major league career that he’s reached the 100 RBI plateau, with the only other time coming in 2009. He’s not having the best season of his entire career, but it’s certainly one of his best, and it couldn’t be more fitting to have happened here in Boston in David Ortiz’s final season, the man who he considers to be his biggest mentor.
But once upon a time, this game was started by Eduardo Rodriguez, and this outing was not an encouraging sign for the Red Sox. When it comes time to decide who your third starter might be in a playoff series, it felt to me like Rodriguez had built the strongest case over Drew Pomeranz and Clay Buchholz, but Thursday night was a big step back for him. Rodriguez couldn’t even make it out of the third inning, allowing four earned runs on eight hits. Credit to John Farrell for pulling Rodriguez when he did, and still giving the team a chance to win. Had this been a game in May or June, I’m assuming Rodriguez would’ve been left out there to absorb some more innings, but the Red Sox don’t have the luxury to do that this late in the season.
For the second time in three days, the Red Sox bullpen was asked to take over the game in the third inning, and for the second time in three days, they answered the call. Heath Hembree, Junichi Tazawa, Robby Scott, and Joe Kelly combined to throw 6.2 innings of one-run ball. Scott, who was appearing in just his second major league game ever, threw three shutout innings of relief, while Kelly made a game-saving play by stabbing a liner that was tagged for centerfield with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning.
I’m gonna keep updating you on this Red Sox bullpen, because for all the shit we’ve given them — and rightfully so — they’ve completely and collectively turned a corner together, and I don’t want it to go unnoticed because of the games where the Red Sox offense going dark is the main storyline or a walk-off home run in the biggest win of the year becomes the main storyline. The Red Sox bullpen has a 0.74 ERA in the month of September, which is the lowest mark in the majors. And the list continues to grow here with Robby Scott hopping on board — Brad Ziegler, Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa, Craig Kimbrel, Fernando Abad, Robbie Ross Jr., Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes and now Robby Scott have combined to throw 29.2 innings with 36 strikeouts, a 0.00 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. Not bad.
Also, one quick shout out to David Ortiz for blasting career home run number 537 to take sole possession of 17th place on the all-time home run list. He’s up to 34 home runs and 114 RBI on the year, while also leading the major leagues with 46 doubles, a .629 slugging percentage, 1.031 OPS, and 81 extra-base hits. He’s 40. He’s retiring after this season. He’s 40.
Final score: Red Sox 7, Yankees 5