You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.
When the Phillies traded Carlos Ruiz to the Dodgers last August, we all shed a tear, said our goodbyes, and barely cared who was coming back to the Phils in exchange. We were all collectively bumming that we had to say another goodbye, this time for the beloved Chooch.
If only we had known the magic that his replacement, A.J. Ellis, was about to provide.
A lot was made about Ellis’ departure from Los Angeles at the time. After all, he and Kershaw were boys.