Robert Ramsay | |
---|---|
Pitcher | |
Born: Vancouver, Washington, U.S. | December 3, 1973|
Died: August 4, 2016 Moscow, Idaho, U.S. | (aged 42)|
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
MLB debut | |
August 27, 1999, for the Seattle Mariners | |
Last MLB appearance | |
September 30, 2000, for the Seattle Mariners | |
MLB statistics | |
Win–loss record | 1–3 |
Earned run average | 4.19 |
Strikeouts | 43 |
Teams | |
Robert Arthur Ramsay (December 3, 1973 – August 4, 2016) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of two seasons, 1999 and 2000, for the Seattle Mariners, then battled brain cancer for nearly fifteen years.[1][2]
Born and raised in Vancouver, Washington, Ramsay graduated from its Mountain View High School in 1992. He then attended Washington State University in Pullman,[3] where he played college baseball for the Cougars for four seasons, through 1996.[4]
During his junior year in 1995, WSU won the Pac-10 northern division,[5][6] and Ramsay was the starter in the first game of the championship series against southern division winner USC at Los Angeles.[3][7]
Following his senior season at Washington State, Ramsay was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the seventh round of the 1996 draft.[8][9] The Red Sox traded him to the Mariners for Butch Huskey on July 26, 1999.[9][10] After the 2000 season with Seattle, Ramsay spent 2001 at Triple-A Tacoma, then was diagnosed with brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme) in early 2002.[11] After surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment, he attempted a comeback in 2003 with the San Diego Padres organization,[12][13][14][15] but it ended his baseball career.[16]
Ramsay lived in Pullman in the off-season during his pro career,[13] and spent some of his retirement coaching and teaching in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho,[16] his wife Samantha's hometown.[17][18]
The family moved back down to the Palouse at Moscow, where Samantha, a former Penn State and WSU volleyball player (setter),[17][18] became an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Idaho in 2010.[19] While she completed her doctorate in education at UI, Ramsay earned a master's.[2]
Ramsay died at age 42 in Moscow in 2016 after suffering a seizure, a complication related to previously diagnosed brain cancer.[16][20][21] He had survived over 14½ years since the initial diagnosis.[2] His widow died in a storm after being struck by lightning on the Matterhorn in 2017.[22]