Hanley Ramirez hit a ball so hard that he put a hole in the outfield wall
Boston Red Sox outfielder Hanley Ramirez is off to a blazing start this season. The 31-year-old is hitting .278/.341/.611, with four home runs, over 41 plate appearances.
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When Ramirez has made contact, he's absolutely smoked the ball. That was evident Friday, when Ramirez hit a ball so hard during batting practice that he actually put a hole in the outfield wall.
Hanley Ramirez hit a liner so hard in batting practice that it drilled a hole in padded wall in CF, above 379 foot marker. Never seen that.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) April 17, 2015
Much like footage of the Loch Ness Monster, or Bigfoot, we have only hearsay and a blurry picture to offer as proof the hole exists. As far as we know, this is the only picture in existence of the center field hole.
The astute @alexspeier saw Hanley causing this damage on the LCF wall during BP...379 feet away. The wall is padded. pic.twitter.com/3EkZm2s9wB
— Gary Striewski (@garystriewski) April 17, 2015
Update: Thanks to the Red Sox's broadcast, we have a better picture.
Seeing something like that might lead one to say, "no one hits the ball as hard as Hanley Ramirez." In this case, that's not hyperbole.
Hanley Ramirez leads #MLB with 13 hits that registered 100+ mph off the bat. (Baseball Savant) #RedSox
— Beyond the Box Score (@BtBScore) April 17, 2015
Ramirez has hit the ball with more authority than any other player this season, and there's statistical proof to back it up.
That's not a surprise to his coaches. Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis told the Boston Globe's Alex Speier that Ramirez is going to hurt someone if he keeps this up.
“Hanley’s going to hurt someone in the infield. I’m serious – he’s going to hurt someone in the infield,” said Sox hitting coach Chili Davis. “Someone’s going to have to try to get out of the way of a ball and they won’t be able to. He hits the ball that hard.”
Hanley Ramirez's strength has now taken on mythical powers. He's hitting the ball so hard that his power level is has jumped to previously unreachable levels.
We're not saying Ramirez has now become an urban legend, because we know he exists. We're just saying that when Chuck Norris goes to sleep at night, he looks under his bed to make sure Hanley Ramirez isn't under there.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik