Before Joe Kelly and Hanley Ramirez became teammates during their respective stints with the Boston Red Sox, the two were playoff foes.
During the 2013 playoffs, Kelly was a starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Ramirez played shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both gentlemen met face-to-face when the Dodgers and Cardinals reached the National League Championship Series, looking to punch their tickets to the World Series, which was against the Red Sox.
In just the first contest of the best-of-seven battle, Kelly faced Ramirez in the first inning. With first base occupied, and Ramirez on a 1-2 count, Kelly nailed Ramirez with a 95 mph fastball. That pitch led to a broken rib and sidelined Ramirez for the second game of the series, which the Dodgers lost.
Watch the series-altering pitch from 2013 here, courtesy of MLB:
Now, 10 years later, Kelly, who won a World Series with the Dodgers in 2020, revisited the subject of setting back Los Angeles’ playoff chances that season. And Kelly’s response was just about what any Red Sox fan could expect from the now Chicago White Sox right-hander.
“Hanley Ramirez probably should have gotten out of the way or turned inside a little more,” Kelly told the Los Angeles Times. “It was a fastball in and before the game we planned to not let Hanley beat us. He’s not a very good inside fastball hitter. One slipped and obviously broke his rib and that will forever go down as the biggest pitch to turn the Cardinals season to move on.”
The Cardinals went on to eliminate the Dodgers in six games.
But before the hit by pitch, Ramirez was on a tear in the batter’s box. In the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves, Ramirez batted .500 and drove in six RBIs in the four-game sweep. That production took a massive fall from grace as the right-handed hitter only batted .133 following the painful fastball from Kelly in Game 1.
“It was unfortunate it hit him, but it is what it is,” Kelly said.
