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Post by amfox1 on Mar 6, 2013 13:47:29 GMT -5
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Post by awall on Mar 6, 2013 13:49:20 GMT -5
Godspeed, young man.
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Post by Jonathan Singer on Mar 6, 2013 13:51:13 GMT -5
I wish him luck and health in the future.
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Post by curll on Mar 6, 2013 13:59:32 GMT -5
Mighty proud of Ryan. Both for his courage and his determination in getting through such unfortunate events with such resolve. Speaks volumes about Ryan and the Westmoreland family.
I'm sure that Ryan will continue to put that determination into the next phase of his life and will have an enormous, positive impact in whatever he chooses to do.
Thank you, Ryan. We're still fans and no matter what the next step may be, we will be with you. Don't hesitate to ask.
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Post by nothingball on Mar 6, 2013 14:00:53 GMT -5
Best of luck in his future endeavors.
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Post by texs31 on Mar 6, 2013 14:01:27 GMT -5
Good luck, Ryan!
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Post by soxcentral on Mar 6, 2013 14:18:13 GMT -5
His comeback may not have had a fairytale ending, but is still an incredible inspiration to so many. Good luck to you in everything, Ryan!
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Post by grandsalami on Mar 6, 2013 14:18:47 GMT -5
Brian MacPherson ?@brianmacp From @rwesty25: "My plan is to pursue my degree and hopefully one day be in a position to get back into baseball in some way."
Save him a spot in the FO sox..
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Post by rcmark on Mar 6, 2013 14:38:24 GMT -5
Good luck, Ryan!
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Post by iakovos11 on Mar 6, 2013 15:32:51 GMT -5
Best of luck, Ryan. Health and success waits for you!
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Post by ancientsoxfogey on Mar 6, 2013 16:46:16 GMT -5
Yes, all the best, Ryan. Maybe YOU can be the Sox GM some day!! Your avatar seems really ironic, amfox, because in truth, Westmoreland had a legitimate chance to become another Fred Lynn, at least.
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Post by slanch on Mar 6, 2013 17:38:14 GMT -5
This bums me out endlessly.
I remember being so incredibly excited to see Ryan play here in Brooklyn only to miss out on it because of his shoulder injury. While i tracked him from afar, I'll always lament never getting to see him live.
He seems to have a good head on his shoulders and the organization clearly likes him, here's hoping he has a chance to work with them in some capacity in the future. good luck ryan!
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Post by onbase on Mar 6, 2013 18:30:29 GMT -5
It's our loss as fans that we won't see him on the field as a major league player. But it sounds as though we may be hearing from him from off the field, and I look forward to that. What a remarkable young man. I have no doubt Ryan will be outstanding at whatever he does.
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Post by nothingball on Mar 6, 2013 18:49:33 GMT -5
This bums me out endlessly. I remember being so incredibly excited to see Ryan play here in Brooklyn only to miss out on it because of his shoulder injury. While i tracked him from afar, I'll always lament never getting to see him live. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders and the organization clearly likes him, here's hoping he has a chance to work with them in some capacity in the future. good luck ryan! I got to see him when the Spinners played the Lake Monsters in Burlington,VT. The collarbone injury occured about one week later. In other news, Alex Wilson started that game and Michael Almanzar still had fans on this site..
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Post by fenwaythehardway on Mar 6, 2013 19:09:28 GMT -5
I really believed in his ability to come back from the initial surgery, but after needing a second proceedure, the writing was pretty much on the wall. Good on him for having the maturity to recognize that and move on. It can't be easy to give up that dream, but it's the best thing for him at this point.
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Post by burythehammer on Mar 6, 2013 19:44:05 GMT -5
Ryan and his story are really, really inspiring with or without baseball. Good luck to him.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Mar 6, 2013 20:49:46 GMT -5
Good luck Ryan. It's a shame as a Sox fan we'll never know what could have been with Westmoreland. The last time before Ryan that a prospect was so highly touted but had his career end almost as quickly as it started was a prospect drafted in the 1990s named Andy Yount, a pitcher who cut tendons in his pitching hand (I think) when he was overcome with emotion squeezing a juice glass at a friend's gravesite.
I guess the grand design was to have Westmoreland in LF, Bradley in CF, and Kalish in RF. Oh well, the best laid plans.... Anyways, more importantly, I hope Ryan has a high quality of life and gets to enjoy it.
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Post by mattpicard on Mar 6, 2013 21:02:48 GMT -5
Good luck Ryan. It's a shame as a Sox fan we'll never know what could have been with Westmoreland. The last time before Ryan that a prospect was so highly touted but had his career end almost as quickly as it started was a prospect drafted in the 1990s named Andy Yount, a pitcher who cut tendons in his pitching hand (I think) when he was overcome with emotion squeezing a juice glass at a friend's gravesite. I guess the grand design was to have Westmoreland in LF, Bradley in CF, and Kalish in RF. Oh well, the best laid plans.... Anyways, more importantly, I hope Ryan has a high quality of life and gets to enjoy it. I always pictured Ryan in RF for us. Feel like his arm and range would play real well out there. Kalish of course is apt for the position as well, but I never looked at him as having as high a ceiling (well, obviously), and pictured him as a LF/RF (and serviceable CF) rather than a pure RF. Kalish's story is nothing like Ryan's, obviously, but he's another one I hope to see overcome his unfortunate injuries some day and carve out a decent baseball career. Ryan's story is inspiring. As much as it's easy to ask what could have been, it's amazing that he's even where he is today. Good luck to him, and I hope to see him in the FO or doing something to his liking in baseball. Guy deserves it. Class act.
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Post by Don Caballero on Mar 6, 2013 21:21:06 GMT -5
You will live in our hearts forever young man.
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Post by theolearyfactor on Mar 6, 2013 22:15:32 GMT -5
As a Rhode Islander and a Sox fan, I had high hopes for Ryan. With that being said, the fact that he has his health is remarkable. Best of luck to you Ryan.
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Post by station13 on Mar 6, 2013 22:42:34 GMT -5
Good luck, Ryan.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Mar 6, 2013 23:02:47 GMT -5
My 1L year, when I got to feeling sorry for myself about how hard it was, I used to remind myself of how good I had things by reminding myself of what Ryan was working through.
It's unreal that he was even able to work his way as far back as he did. As Cherington said today, he was in the 99.9th percentile in terms of what he was able to accomplish in his recovery. Incredible perseverance on this kid.
I also won't be able to help but wonder "what if" - he could have been on Xander Bogaerts' level as a prospect if he'd kept progressing.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Mar 7, 2013 0:18:33 GMT -5
My first thought when I found out what was going on after Ryan's collapse, was that this was far bigger than baseball. It was really about life and being able to live it. I was far more concerned that he'd be permanently disabled given how difficult it is to work on the brain stem. I think we were all elated when he came through the surgery and stunned when he made it back onto the ball field. Given how far he's come, but how far it would be to get to where he was, the decision is understandable. From his words it's also something he's thought about deeply. The willpower is amazing. That he will still have as he goes forward.
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Post by waterview on Mar 7, 2013 9:05:50 GMT -5
Ryan is from my home town of Portsmouth, RI and is the reason I became interested in following the Red Sox minor leagues. He's been a class act from the outset and I'm sure, as he heads now in a new direction, that he will continue to excel and inspire.
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Post by brianthetaoist on Mar 7, 2013 9:48:16 GMT -5
It's definitely bittersweet. It's obviously sad that his baseball career is at an end. He seems like a great kid with a bright future, but he loved playing baseball, and now that's at an end. That can't be easy. But he really has been inspirational, and I get a sense that this will be a springboard to a really successful life. Here's Ryan Kalish:
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