The Official Site of Hanley Ramirez

Fri, Mar 13th 2009, 10:49

Hanley has no regrets about Classic

There’s been no bigger surprise in the World Baseball Classic thus far than the mighty Dominican Republic getting eliminated by a Netherlands squad whose only players with Major League experience were veteran Sidney Ponson and the Marlins’ own Rick VandenHurk.

Marlins superstar shortstop Hanley Ramirez was in the middle of the major upset, as his team lost twice to The Netherlands, including a 2-1 defeat in 11 innings on Tuesday to get ousted from the Classic. The Dominican pitching staff allowed just five runs in the three games, but in its two losses to The Netherlands, the Dominican Republic offense mustered just three runs.

Ramirez expected to be ready to star for the Marlins once again this season, he probably just didn’t expect to be back so soon.

But as he sat in the clubhouse moments before he’d be in the starting lineup against the Braves at Roger Dean Stadium on Friday, he didn’t have any gripes about his Dominicans coming up short.

“It’s baseball, man,” said Ramirez, who caught up with the Marlins at Port St Lucie, Fla., on Thursday, taking batting practice and fielding ground balls before the game. “Anything can happen. Were you surprised when we eliminated the Mets in September last year? Anything can happen. It’s a game. It’s nothing like a [sure thing], like, ‘Oh, we’re going to beat them,’ or, ‘They’re going to beat us.’ It happens.

“Everybody hit — it’s just that everything we hit was right at them.”

Ramirez served as the designated hitter once, played shortstop in another game and pinch-hit in his team’s lone win — a 9-0 drubbing of Panama — finishing the tournament 2-for-9 with an RBI and two walks.

The 25-year-old said he came away impressed with Dominican Republic manager Felipe Alou — “He’s a great guy, man,” Ramirez said — and the talent of baseball in other countries.

“You see the preparation for the game — what they do on the field, off the field,” Ramirez said. “How they deal with everybody and the media.”

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