Kenneth Cecil Ramos (June 6, 1967 – May 15, 2016) was an American

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

in its 1997 season. Listed at 6 foot 1 inch, 185 pounds, he batted and threw left handed.Major League Baseball statistics and history
''Baseball Reference''. Ken Ramos is remembered as an outfielder that reached the majors briefly in 1997 with the Astros, even though he was more renowned for his lengthy and productive minor league career. Born in

Sidney, Nebraska Sidney is a city in and the county seat of Cheyenne County, Nebraska, Cheyenne County, Nebraska, United States. The city is north of the Colorado state line. The population was 6,410 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The ci ...

, Ramos attended the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

. He was originally selected by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

in the sixth round of the

1986 MLB Draft The 1986 Major League Baseball draft was the 22nd MLB draft that took place in 1986. During this draft 21 future all-stars were drafted: Greg Swindell, Matt Williams, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Roberto Hernández, Jack Armstrong, Dean Palm ...

out of

Otero Junior College Otero College is a public community college in La Junta, Colorado. In fall 2022, the college had an enrollment of 999 students. History Otero College was established in 1941 and was named La Junta Junior College. Which was operated by the schoo ...

La Junta, Colorado La Junta is a home rule municipality in, the county seat of, and the most populous municipality of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,322 at the 2020 United States census. La Junta is located on the Arkansa ...

, but he opted not to sign. He then signed as a free agent with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

in 1989, and was traded to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

in exchange for

Matt Merullo Matthew Bates Merullo (born August 4, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher who played for the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, and Minnesota Twins between 1989 and 1995. Playing career Merullo attended the Unive ...

in the spring of 1994. Finally, a few days later, he was selected off waivers by Houston from the White Sox. Ramos appeared in 14 games for the Astros, primarily as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

, and was hitless in 14

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

s while compiling one

run batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

and two walks. Nevertheless, his Minor League career spanned ten seasons, from 1989 until 1998, including six at Triple-A with stints in the farm systems of the Indians, Astros and

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

.Minor League Baseball statistics
''Baseball Reference''. While with the

Kinston Indians The Kinston Indians were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League (CL) located in Kinston, North Carolina, from 1978 to 2011. They played their home games at Grainger Stadium, which opened in 1949. The team began play in 1978 as the Kin ...

, Ramos earned a spot on the 1990

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

All-Star squad. His most productive season in the minors came in 1992, when he hit a

slash line This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See count. 1 ...

of .339/.342/.448 with Double-A Canton-Akron Indians and earned Lou Boudreau Award honors as Indians' Minor League Player of the Year. Ramos retired in 1998, at age 31, after dividing his playing time at Triple-A with the

New Orleans Zephyrs New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

and

Salt Lake Buzz In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as ro ...

. Overall, Ramos hit .300 (1036-for-3449) with 24

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 328 RBI in 1,039 minor league games, including 599 runs, 157 doubles, 49

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

and 120

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s. Besides, he posted averages of .300 or better in five seasons, with a career-best .345 in 1990. In total, he walked more than he

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safel ...

, amassing 503 walks against 311 strikeouts, to collect

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

s of .400 or more five times. In between, Ramos played winter ball with the

Águilas del Zulia The Águilas del Zulia () is a Venezuelan professional baseball team based in Maracaibo which plays in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. History The team was founded in 1969 and debuted in the 1969–70 season. The franchise began in 19 ...

and

Navegantes del Magallanes Navegantes del Magallanes B.B.C., commonly known as Navegantes del Magallanes (; ''Strait of Magellan, Magellan Navigators''), or simply Magallanes, are a professional baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP), based in ...

clubs of the Venezuelan League in part of two seasons spanning 1993–1995. On May 15, 2016, Ramos shot and killed his wife Lisa Ramos and then committed suicide at the couple's home in

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

. He left behind one daughter, Delaney.

Sources

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramos, Ken 1967 births 2016 deaths Águilas del Zulia players 21st-century American murderers Baseball players from Nebraska Canton-Akron Indians players Charlotte Knights players Gulf Coast Indians players Houston Astros players Kinston Indians players Major League Baseball outfielders Murder–suicides in Colorado Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball players New Orleans Zephyrs players People from Sidney, Nebraska Salt Lake Buzz players Suicides by firearm in Colorado Tucson Toros players 2016 suicides 20th-century American sportsmen