[chucksabr]

The Great Ramsay to Fulham.

Shock waves rippled through Walsall as their baseball club favourite was sent to the Fulham club yesterday in exchange for four young players who are meant to help the Swifts in future seasons, as the club now considers their chances for success during this season to have entirely dissipated.

Jamie Ramsay, aged 34 years and one of the greatest baseballers ever to grace our pitches, is also beloved throughout the kingdom as the man who stood up for British baseball eight years ago, replying to the patronising remarks by American slugger “Babe” Ruth with an uproariously cheeky response that is not fit to reprint in this journal as a direct quote. The brazen Scotsman, who held up his homeland with pride in such a way as to put broad smiles on the faces of Englishmen and Irishmen as well, has been considered a folk hero in the West Midlands, but especially in the town of Walsall, which is reeling from the bad times wrought by the current great slump. Not much is known about pitchers Martinez, Smith and Christie, or of first base man Whitehead, who come to the Swifts in the exchange, other than that none is older than twenty three years, and none will help Walsall win any matches any time soon.

Fulham, on the other hand, should benefit greatly from the arrival of Ramsay. Unlike the once mighty Walsall, who have won only 32 matches for a win rate of 43 per cent. thus far, Fulham is very much in the hunt for a spot in the EOI Cup series, as they stand level for the sixth place with Bury and only five lengths behind the second spot for the post season tie. Ramsay is clearly not the batsman he had been in his salad days. If he were to finish the season with his current batting average of .336, which is quite good, it would still be the lowest of his august career, and his seventeen steals so far, which would end up as being 29 at season’s end if taken at the same rate, is a far cry from the 70 and 80 bases he would routine nick in a season’s time. However, Ramsay is still a dangerous presence at the home plate for opponents to see, and he is quite good at assessing the situation at hand and delivering the right result that puts his team in the best position to win matches. That is what the Fulham Cottagers hope Ramsay will impart to them as they vie to return to the EOI Cup series after two seasons' absence.

The baseball supporters of the Capital may revel in having the opportunity to see an all time great play out his days nearby, but the great baseball town of Walsall is mourning the loss of its adopted son, never mind the downfall of their once great club in general.