Amongst the Ruins of the Philadelphia Sporting Landscape, Darin Ruf Is All We Have Left

I wish we knew if Ruf was going to be awesome, or slightly less than awesome, already. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE

It was a pretty tough weekend to be a Philadelphia sports fan.

The Eagles were physically abused by the Washington Redskins, the fourth straight defeat by more than two touchdowns. Not only that, their best player, LeSean McCoy, had his brain knocked into another dimension thanks to a fourth quarter concussion while the team was losing 31-6.

Then there was Sixers center Andrew Bynum’s impressive Danny Tartabull impersonation, acknowledging on Saturday that his other knee is also giving him problems, swelling up after a rousing game of bowling with friends last week.

And, there is still no Flyers hockey.

No, there is not much Philadelphia fans can hang their hats on at the moment.

In fact, there is only one. Just one hope left for sports salvation in the city of Philadelphia.

That’s right, all we have left is Darin Ruf and his never-ending torrent of home runs and extra base hits. Seriously, the Phillies can never stop letting him play baseball games. Are there any other leagues after the Venezuelan league? Is there a slow pitch softball league somewhere in the Caribbean where he can keep getting some ABs until spring training? Because I’m worried if this guy ever stops playing, he might forget how to do this.

It doesn’t seem to matter what league it is anymore. Double A, Major Leagues, Venezuelan League, Canadian Football League, Babe Ruf just keeps mashing home runs.

Now, should the Phillies call off their search for a corner outfielder based on Ruf’s impressive post-season in the happy land of Hugo? Absolutely not.

In fact, Ruf may be playing himself right out of Philadelphia.

The Phils really don’t know enough about him to give him a starting outfield spot. My suggestion is a platoon in left with Domonic Brown, with the two players splitting time.

But if the Phillies decide to try and fill one of their holes, either at third base, center field, or one of the corner spots, through a trade, Ruf could be one of the first names requested by rival GMs.

Of course, the way things are going right now, the Phils will probably trade Ruf to another team, only to see him average 30 HRs and 120 RBIs a year playing for someone else.

Yeah, that sounds about right.