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Summary The Venezuelan government has vowed to rescue a baseball player who was kidnapped on late Wednesday.
The 24-year-old Ramos, who had returned to Venezuela after his rookie season, was just outside the front door at his home Wednesday night when an SUV approached, armed men got out and they took him away, said Ramos agent, Gustavo Marcano.It was the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela, though the relatives of some ballplayers have previously been held captive for ransom.Police found the kidnappers vehicle abandoned in the nearby town of Bejuma on Thursday morning, Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said. He said anti-kidnapping units led by the best investigators we have were dispatched to the area in central Carabobo state.He vowed to rescue Ramos and capture his abductors. Were taking on this investigation with everything weve got, El Aissami said.Major League Baseball and the Nationals said the leagues Department of Investigations was working with authorities.Ramos was outside with his father and two brothers in their working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Valencia when the SUV pulled up with four men inside, three of whom got out and seized the player, Marcano said.At baseball games in three Venezuelan stadiums, fans and players observed a minute of silence Thursay night in support of Ramos, and prayed for him. Some held signs reading: Free Wilson RamosRamos is a key young player for the Nationals. As a rookie in 2011, he hit .267 with 15 home runs and 52 RBIs in 113 games. He also threw out 19 of 67 runners attempting to steal a base, a 28 percent success rate that ranked third among qualifying catchers in the National League.Washington acquired Ramos from the Minnesota Twins in a trade for All-Star relief pitcher Matt Capps in July 2010. He is one of dozens of Venezuelans in professional baseball, and security while at home has increasingly become a concern for the players and their families as a rising wave of kidnappings has hit the wealthy as well as the middle class.Katherine Vilera, spokeswoman for Ramos Venezuelan team, the Aragua Tigers, said on Twitter that neighbors gathered at his home and prayed.Ramos had been training and planned to start playing with his Venezuelan team next week. Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Melvin Mora, also a Venezuelan, proposed that the Venezuelan league ought to call off its games until he appears.But league president Jose Grasso said that wont happen. Turning out the stadium lights isnt a solution, Grasso said, calling Ramos abduction an isolated event.
