The Philadelphia Phillies have lost another key player to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Phillies traded Carlos Ruiz for A.J. Ellis this past Thursday.
Many Phillies fans have struggled to move on from Chase Utley’s trade with the Dodgers last August. Phillies fans now lose Ruiz, who is one of the last original players from the 2008 World Series Championship team. Ryan Howard is officially the last remaining player from that World Series team.
Ruiz spent his entire baseball career with the Phillies. He started in the Phillies minor league where he was signed as an amateur free agent in1998.
Ruiz had a permanent position on the Phillies roster on opening day in 2007 and soon became the starting catcher and one of the greatest in their history.
He was an important part of the team that won five consecutive division titles from 2007 to 2011.
Former Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay shared with CSN Philly, “Chooch was the little engine that could for a team loaded with big names, but no player was more valuable to the team as a whole than Carlos!”
He shared his kind words in an interview with CSN Philly where he praised his past teammate.
“It’s going to be sad to see him without a Phillies uniform on and not seeing him sitting in his chair in the clubhouse with a smile. And just the way the fans treated Chase last week, Chooch is also deserving of that hero’s welcome. They are my two favorite players of all-time as well as my favorite teammates,” Halladay said.
An article on the goodphight.com explains the fans love for “Chooch”. Although he does not look or sound like someone from Philly, his story is “a true rise-from-nothing, grind-it-out, claw-your-way-to-the-top tale that many in this blue collar city lap up like a man left wandering alone in the desert.”
Fans and fellow players shared their sadness in result of the trade news.
It was common to hear his nickname “Chooch” echoing through Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park. Utley and Ruiz will now be reunited in Los Angeles as they play in Dodger Stadium.
