IMAGE SOURCE: (Pasionxeldeporte)
BYLINE: ANTHONY MARTINEZ
Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos has been rescued by Venezuelan police commandos, after being abducted at gunpoint from his Venezuelan home Wednesday. Here’s ESPN.
“The country’s information minister says Ramos was air-lifted to safety out of a mountainous region. Ramos’s mother then exclaimed on Venezuelan television, ‘Thank you God! Thanks to my country, my neighbors, my family.’ This was the first known abduction of a major league player in a country that has dozens of players on major league rosters.”
Ramos’s family and close friends weren’t the only ones celebrating at the announcement of his rescue. MLB.com reporter Jesse Sanchez reports how fans of Ramos’s Venezuela team reacted.
“I mean one of the neatest things that happened tonight there was the PA system there at the Tigres de Aragua game announced it, and the fans went bananas. And they were just cheering, and they actually paused the game to let the fans celebrate.”
Five men were arrested, one of them linked to paramilitary and kidnapping groups. An FBI kidnapping expert told ABC, this was an attempt by the kidnappers to make major headlines and major bolivar -- cash.
“This was a targeted kidnapping, so they were aware of where he was. They knew the money he could produce, they probably knew how much baseball players make...”
Relatives and personal friends of baseball players in Venezuela have been taken hostage before, and in two cases have been killed. The Los Angeles Times reports -- the danger is starting to steer players away.
“Venezuela has been beset by deteriorating security in recent years. The number of major league teams with training facilities there has fallen to five, from 21 in 2002. … Venezuela ranks second among foreign countries as a source of baseball talent ... But teams increasingly are sending prospects to train in the Dominican Republic...”
Ramos told the Associated Press that he expects to keep playing with the Tigres in Venezuela as soon as he feels better.
