The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs made a key early season acquisition with the re-signing of John Ramistella on Sunday. The outfielder is entering his second season with the Blue Crabs after playing with the organization last season. In 2008, Ramistella played in 129 games for the Blue Crabs. He hit .276 with 15 homeruns and 67 RBI. He drew 71 walks and had 14 stolen bases.
The 27 year-old from Monterey, California native rejoins the Blue Crabs after completing his college semester. Ramistella had to complete college this year as part of his original contract with the New York Yankees. Part of the contract was that the Yankees would pay for his college as long as it was completed by Spring of 2009, even if he was no longer apart of the organization. He was drafted in 2000 by the Yankees in the 35th round.
In 104 games over 2 seasons in the Yankees’ system, Ramistella hit .256 with 8 homeruns and 47 RBI. He also had a stint with the Florida Marlin’s minor league system in 2004.
Ramistella came to the Blue Crabs in 2008 as part of the migration of players who came with Manager Butch Hobson from the 2007 Can-Am Champion Nashua Pride. In one season with Nashua, he hit .272 with 11 homeruns and 45 RBI in 89 games.
His best professional season came with the Chillicothe Paints of the Frontier League in 2005. He hit .317 with 20 homeruns and 73 RBI in 94 games. Ramistella also had 32 stolen bases and drew 42 walks. In 2006 with the Paints, he had 41 stolen bases and hit .283.
Ramistella had two walks and two runs scored on Sunday against the Bridgeport Bluefish in his first game back with the Blue Crabs. On Monday night, Ramistella hit a three-run homerun to push the Blue Crabs to a 7-4 win over York.
