Ramos Set to Represent His Country
by Daniel Frias, Daily 49er
May 12, 2004 It is not everyday a player receives a phone call from his coach to give him good news. So you can bet Cesar Ramos, a pitcher with the Long Beach State men's baseball team, was surprised when he heard a message from LBSU assistant coach Troy Buckley.
"I heard the message so I called him [Buckley]," said Ramos. "I had no idea what he wanted to talk to me about. I thought it was something to do with pitching practice. Then he said, ‘congratulations, you have been invited to tryout for Team USA.'"
"It was kind of a shock. It came out of nowhere. I was happy. I called my parents and they were just as excited as I was. It was just a great day for me. It made everything seem easier. I didn't want the day to end."
Ramos, a sophomore on the LBSU baseball team, was one of the first 19 players around the country to be called up for tryouts to represent Team USA this summer at the Baseball World Championship in Taiwan. Ramos, a Pico Rivera native who began playing baseball at the age of seven, was the only Mexican-American to be on the list of invitees of the very best players from all across the nation. The tryouts will be held from June 20 to 26 in Durham, N.C. The U.S. National Team will invite an additional 17 players for tryouts. Of the 36 total players invited to the camp only 20 will get the honor to represent Team USA in the summer.
Ramos is the fifth straight Dirtbag, and ninth overall, to be extended an invitation to try out for the U.S. National Team. Former Dirtbags that have played for Team USA include Bobby Crosby in 2000, Jeremy Reed in 2001, Abe Alvarez in 2002 and Jered Weaver in 2003.
Weaver played for the U.S. National Team last summer setting a Team USA record with a 0.38 ERA and 45.2 scoreless innings of pitching on his way to a silver medal at the 2003 Pan-American Games. Alvarez played on the U.S. National Team in 2002 at the World Championship in Italy.
Ramos, a 6 foot 2 inch left-hander who counts a fastball, curve ball, slider and change up in his pitching repertoire, is second on a pitching rotation that includes college baseball's current best player and former Team USA member Weaver. Weaver is by far the best pitcher in the nation and has a record of 13-0 with a 1.29 ERA this season. Weaver is the 49ers' all-time strikeout leader punching out 381, surpassing Ricky Biddle's mark of 361 set in 1997.
What does "The Dream" say about teammate Ramos having the opportunity he had last year when he took the U.S. National Team to a silver medal at the 2003 Pan-American games?
"He's awesome," said Weaver. "He's been pretty unstoppable for us this year. He has a really good shot [at making Team USA] if he just keeps doing what he's doing."
What Ramos has been doing is having a great year for the No. 8-ranked Dirtbags.
The former El Rancho High School standout is 9-3 with a 2.01 ERA and has struck out 71 batters this season. Ramos currently has 15 wins in his career with the Dirtbags, a career he didn't think would be possible when he was younger.
"I always dreamed about playing college baseball, but I didn't know it would ever happen," said Ramos. "I thought it was just one of those dreams that you have as a kid growing up."
Even Ramos father can't believe the accomplishment of his only son.
"I never imagined this would happen," Ramon Ramos said. "I'm extremely happy my son has the willingness to play baseball and to come out ahead in life."
Cesar has been playing baseball ever since he started walking. His dad, who played baseball for many years in his native country of Mexico, taught his son how to play the game.
"Baseball really caught his attention as a young child," said Ramon. "He would always watch and tell me if I could take him to go play and I did."
But the young Cesar had some trouble with the game early on. His father Ramon recalls that the young Cesar would cry during games and didn't seem like he wanted to be out there. Cesar wound up leaving the sport that year and his dad wouldn't let him come back unless he promised to be serious about it.
"I quit playing when I first started and my dad wouldn't let me play again," said Ramos. "I had to promise him I wouldn't quit and after I promised him he let me play again."
Ramon said he just wanted to make sure his son wouldn't drop out again.
"I just wanted to scare him so that when he decided to return to playing baseball he would not leave the sport," Ramon said.
As it turns out Cesar hasn't stopped playing baseball since. He's developed into one of the top pitchers on one of the best college baseball teams in the nation.
"Cesar definitely has a feel for the game," said Buckley. "He pitches off his fastball well and has a good feel to locate the ball and pitch downhill. He doesn't make a tremendous amount of mistakes. He is a guy who can go through the line up. He has an assortment of weapons that get him through the innings."
The Dirtbags were ranked No. 5 last season and were one series away from making it to its fifth College World Series appearance before they fell to Stanford in the NCAA Super Regional at Palo Alto.
This season the Dirtbags are ranked No. 6 in the nation and are looking forward to the College World Series.
"It's exciting to be here and be on a winning team and have a chance to go to Omaha [Nebraska] every year," said Ramos. "We have a bunch of great players here."
Not only does Ramos have a chance at the College World Series in Omaha, but he has a shot at representing the United States at the Baseball World Championship in Taiwan. |
