Washington pitcher Ravert’s first game was a wild one

Wild Things relief pitcher Joe Ravert will never forget his first game as a professional baseball player. Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, some of the hard-to-believe parts of that game are there for all to see.
Following a solid career as a two-way player at La Salle University, Ravert went undrafted last June but also undeterred. Wanting to start a professional career, Ravert asked his college coach to call some independent teams and try to arrange a tryout for him. The first team to agree to look at Ravert, a right-hander from Havertown, a community about 10 miles west of Philadelphia, was the Rockland Boulders of the Can-Am League. Rockland is managed by Jamie Keefe, who spent many years in the same capacity with Chillicothe in the Frontier League.
“I got there at 3 or 4 in the afternoon, before the game, and was supposed to throw a bullpen session after batting practice. I threw maybe 10 pitches when the manager stopped me,” Ravert said. “I was thinking I had not even thrown all of my pitches, just fastballs and two sliders.”
Ravert immediately thought he had blown the tryout. Instead, Keefe asked, “You want a job?”
Ravert signed a contract so that he could be on the roster for the Boulders’ game that night against the New Jersey Jackals.
“I took my physical in the third or fourth inning,” Ravert recalled.
By the sixth inning, though he didn’t even know the names of his teammates, Ravert was on the mound making his professional debut. The Boulders didn’t even have time to put Ravert’s name on the back of his uniform. As debuts go, Ravert’s was rather average. He gave up two runs over 3 2/3 innings and struck out two.
Ravert wrapped up his stint in the top of the ninth inning with New Jersey leading, 8-3.
Then, all the fun began.
By the time the ninth inning ended, there were two ejections, a benches-clearing incident and Rockland had scored five runs to tie the game.
Then, as another Rockland relief pitcher was warming up to start the 10th inning, a New Jersey player ran from its dugout and headed with bad intentions for the Rockland dugout, where he was taken down by former Wild Things pitcher Pat Butler, who was a reliever for the Boulders. It triggered another benches-clearing incident and more ejections.
“That was definitely a shock,” Ravert said. “I wondered what I had gotten myself into.”
The strange circumstances didn’t leave a good impression of independent ball on Ravert and his experience with the Boulders was to get more unusual before he would pitch in his next game. Rockland was to leave the next morning for a series in Ottawa but there was one problem. Ravert didn’t have a visa or passport, so he didn’t make the trip. Ravert rejoined the team when it returned to Rockland later in the week.
By season’s end, Ravert was a valuable member of the Boulders. He had a 1-1 record in seven outings, three of them starts, and helped Rockland win the Cam-Am championship.
Ravert didn’t make it through the offseason with Rockland. He was traded to Washington for outfielder David Popkins in November.
“I was working a camp with Jimmy Yezzo, who played last year for the Wild Things and he was telling me about playing in Washington,” Ravert recalled. “About an hour after Jimmy left, I got a text message that said I just got traded to the Washington Wild Things.
“I enjoyed playing for Rockland. It was close to home and I had great teammates. It’s an older league and I was playing against more experienced guys. Being a rookie, I was basically a pitcher who had to eat innings.”
Ravert pitched 5 2/3 innings over four outings entering Washington’s game Saturday night against Florence. He has not allowed an earned run and has five strikeouts.
“He’s been fine,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn confirmed. “He has a good fastball with late life. In spring training, he would get a couple of quick outs and get breaking ball-happy, so I talked to him. I got him to pitch off his fastball.”
Langbehn indicated that Ravert should play a significant role this season. What role he ends the year in is open for debate.
“Maybe, down the road, we could insert him in the rotation,” Langbehn said. “His stuff plays. He’s going to be a big piece of what we’re doing.”