That train we talked about? Well, it hit us. Hard. The Phils are playing it out, trying to delay the inevitable for the Washington Nationals… and giving prospects like Darin Ruf a chance to show if they can play at this level.
Ruf, it seems, can.
Last night, the Phillies minor league player of the year blasted a home run in his first Major League at-bat [edit: first hit] (he went 2-for-3 on the night). The reaction from this teammates? Typical. The silent treatment, done in epic fashion.
The home run:
After the game, Charlie Manuel and Ruf laughed about the extended silent treatment.
Manuel: [slight edits, for readability]
“I think the bat boy did good, really. Ruf was trying to get somebody to say something, so he went over to the bat boy, and the bat boy just kind of really blew him off. He said that made him feel bad when the bat boy blew him off. He blew him off and didn’t even look at him. Some guys took two innings before they talked to him.”
Ruf:
“I knew something was up when I tried to give the bat boy a pound and he didn’t even acknowledge me, so I was like alright, if he’s not going to do anything. Then I tried talking to Cloyd and Steve, and they had nothing.”
Awesome.
Video of their comments after the jump.