VA Pilot Newspaper Article

hard feelings? when you look in the box score for the kempsville games you normally see 4 or 5 errors....Kempsville is young and will be good, but Rameriez is the real deal

There's no question of Neil being the real deal, and chiefsbaseball if you'll notice its not like Coach Shows sounded very positive about the other 19 players, and I would imagine they got most of their information straight from him but maybe not so it probably wasnt the pilot "bashing kempsville" its just honesty...its no secret its a weak squad this year. Lets be realistic, theres not much to talk about beyond Neil right now, especially as far as something worthy of a write up in the paper.

Neil may be the "real deal," but he made his share of errors in the Kemp / Kellam game. There should be blame all around or no blame at all.

Yeh, the paper quoated the coach. I do not want to bad mouth a kid, but the stats do not support that he is the real deal. He may be one day, but not this year. He is 1-4 and team has won 5. So who are those other pitchers that helped win games for Kempsville, inspite of "poor" performances from the rest of the team (which includes this player). To say there are not any other (not one) good players on the team is ridiculous. There are 8-9 players with a better BA and a few pitchers with lower ERA's.
yep, some of the players have all experienced a "bad" game, and a couple of games were lost on mistakes, but sometimes its hard to outscore a team that scores 10-11 runs. Just don't think its right to put down every other player on the team because he is not getting his wins and especially write an article about it in the local paper. I like the kid and some day you might see him at Yankee Stadium.

All of you need to wake up. Do you really think coach Shows would put down his players? Anyone who thinks that doesn't know coach Shows at all. Ramirez is only 15 and he is topping out at 94-96 and consistently throwing 88 for 7 innings. This is someone the paper should be writing articles about not the other 19 players on the team(no disrespect to the other players). He is a future first round draft choice barring injury. If you know the kid, he doesn't act like he is anything special with his teammates. You guys need to stop knocking him down for making errors in the field, if he had a choice he would only pitch and not even play the field but being a team player that he is he plays a position with no complaints. It's very difficult for a 15 year old to throw to his potential when he goes out on the mound game after game and the team makes 4-8 errors and gets 2 or 3 hits. He is throwing 15-20 extra pitches an inning because of all the errors.

Chiefsbaseball, Wins & Losses don't mean a thing especially when you look and see how much run support he gets when he pitches and the errors the team makes. Do you even know how to figure ERA? Did you say a couple of games were lost on mistakes? Only a couple of games, what games are you watching. How can you compare any other pitcher on KHS team to Ramirez your joking aren't you, no disrespect to the other pitchers but please there are only 3-4 pitchers in the district in Ramirez class.

Doc,
I never said that the paper should write any thing about any other player on Kempsville's team. I think its great that a kid can get an article written about "him". I agree he can throw some heat and will be a D1 and/or Major league player. But you don't have to bad mouth the other players when your are promoting another. I never said the any other pitcher on his team was in his "Class". Point was, they have won without him on the mound and they have lost some without him on the mound. And yes, I do know how to figure an ERA and runs scored due to errors are unearned runs. It wouldn't be fair to say that all runs scored against this kid have been unearned.
He is a great kid, has great potential, but just like the other players he has made mistakes and has struggled at the plate, he hasn't been able to help his own cause. I see the errors the "team" has been making and its frustrating to the coaches and its frustrating to the players. Its just as fustrating to another player when his mistakes cost them a ball game as it is to him if he feels their mistakes cost him a ball game. But they are just 15-16 year olds kids. Give them time to develope.
Final Comment: HE WILL PLAY D1 AND/OR MAJOR LEAGUE BALL. Never doubted it. Good luck to him, he will make lots of money.

Ramirez is topping out at 94-96??? Wow!!! How does anyone get a bat on the ball?

No disrespect to Mr. Ramirez intended, but someone should check the calibration on the radar gun.

Doc,

If this kid is topping out at 94-96 I can't think of any kids in the district that are in his class better yet I can't think of anybody in the tidewater area that is going to be in his class based on velocity.I would have to agree with Eagle One how do the teams get a bat on the ball.

There is no one in Tidewater hitting 94 on a real radar gun.

Guy's if you don't believe me go to a Kempsville game and see for yourself the run is on him every inning. His last strike of the game against Tallwood was 94. I heard Ramirez is pitching today against OL at KHS. So guy's rather than sitting behind your computer and saying no way go see for yourself. When he does hit 94 no one does put the bat on the ball. Topping out doesn't mean consistently throwing that speed gentleman it is what it says TOPPING OUT. Come on out today and see for yourself .

Doc,

So what happens if I go to the game today and he does not top out at 94? This kid is only a sophmore and what the coach is doing may be hurting him more than helping him. If he is the type of pitcher you are saying everything should take of itself. I have not seen them play but it sounds like from the other post that the team does not have any other good players, which I have a hard time believing. Alot can happen in 2 plus years. My feeling is that there is to much pressure being put on him...

doc,

I have seen ramirez throw and while he throws well, he was no where near 94 when I saw him.

Were you on the radar gun?

Ok lets cut it out, intent of discussion was not to bad mouth or cut down any one player, it just wasn't right to cut down the other players. He deserves the reconignition but not at anyones expense, thats all I am saying.
90+ out of a 15 year old is phenominal and they should be proud of it and advertise to the world. Leave it at that, you don't need to write a whole article blaming the team wheather Doc, highheat or whoever thinks that KHS squad is weak.
Cut to the chase, article should have only talked about his talents, his potential, his grades, his past and possible future. All very good. Leave the rest of the team out of it.

Rameriez has hit 94 on a juggs not a stalker if that makes a huge difference to anyone, but i have personally seen him top out in the 90's

Chiefsbaseball who are you kidding to say his stats dont support he is the real deal? So you have seen a spread sheet with his ball to strike ratio, walks, innings pitched, era, and etc.? doubt it. Youre looking at wins and losses which doesnt necessarily mean anything. Im almost positive i remember Dexter Carter(i think thats his last name) telling me once that he didnt have a winning record at his school before Greenbriar Christian...i guess he isnt the real deal either ? Hes a top prospect in the country right now for his pitching. The other "poor" pitchers youre talking about are decent pitchers at best(for the most part) who have played less than average teams and done their job, and im not trying to talk bad about them either but what has happened when those same pitchers have thrown against teams like First Colonial? Theyve gotten crushed. Neil IS the real deal right now, end of story. Maybe the pilot was wrong to print some of that stuff but get over it, the articles purpose was to promote a star, not trash a team. Even though in my opinion the coach and writer were just honest.

Seems a shame to turn this into a bit of bashing a young player. Yes he is not 94-96. Yes he has hit low 90's on occasion. The kid is 15 or 16 ! That is a talent in itself and leave it at that ! Kempsville is a very young team and like alot of Beach District teams they are not playing well. Besides Ramirez will not be at Kempsville next year anyway. So enjoy his performances and look to his future as nother Tidewater area prospect.

This thread is the exact reason papers hate to cover high school sports. For the record, I do not work for the paper in question.

Game coverage and especially features on teams are almost always boring. Blow half a reporter's day covering a HS game and the parents of 42 other high schools are upset you didn't cover their game. If pictures are taken, it's 10 times worse.

Featurize a team and, if you don't run the team picture (which is fine for the scrapbook, but worthless for a newspaper), some parents of the team are upset. And almost all the parents of every other competitive team in every other sport is upset because you didn't do their team.

Feature a player, whether or not the facts are accurate and true, and you'll start a healthy backstabbing debate. But it least we accomplished that much.

We try to identify the players who are/will be ones to watch at the next level, whatever that might be. We also try to do stories on kids who overcome, for lack of a better word, stuff to become standouts in their own way.

Most of the time, the stories are well received by the general public. Sometimes, they spawn other good story ideas. But the downside is they always put somebody's nose out of joint.

Beach Dad,

Touching 90 at 15/16 is great! I hope he continues to improve.

young mr. ramirez has the best young arm in tidewater right now. i hope he realizes his full potential and makes everyone proud that he came from our area !!!

BEACH_DAD, why do you need to try to start something, Ramirez dad is a KHS grad his older brother was second in the state at 140 in wrestling and he has a younger brother that will be coming through in a couple of years. Sure Neil gets down at times but he is a true Kempsville kid and he isn't going anywhere, he doesn't need to go anywhere. BEACH_DAD go crawl back in your hole and stop trying to start trouble.

Moderator(s)....how about shutting this thread down. It's gone on way too long with absolutely no insightful remarks.