Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
It’s where Darin Ruf slugged his first career home run, a Sept. 25, 2012, shot that announced the arrival of the lumberjack of a first baseman. It’s where he spent parts of five seasons, all featuring demotions and all featuring promotions, trying to establish himself as a legitimate major league and proving that his power was real.
He had gone through the Phillies’ system earning the moniker “Babe Ruf,” while setting the Double-A Reading record with 38 homers in 2012 (both Rhys Hoskins and Dylan Cozens matched or broke it since). As a 20th-round pick out of Creighton, Ruf made it until he didn’t, struggling more each season until he was sent away to the Dodgers, where he didn’t last long before heading to South Korea for three years.
While Gabe Kapler has rightfully received much more of the attention in his return to Citizens Bank Park, where the Giants manager called home for two years before he was ousted, Ruf, too, was back to where memories were made and his dream began.
“It was funny, I was shagging balls in left field [Monday],” Ruf said over the phone Tuesday. “Once a couple of [the fans] recognized me, they all kind of remembered a little bit. It’s been a while.
“You’ve got to imagine they didn’t expect me to ever come back.”
Ruf returned successfully, pinch-hitting in Tuesday’s fifth inning and seeing eight pitches from Zack Wheeler before he earned a two-out walk. He then trotted around the bases for Tommy La Stella’s home run in the Giants’ comeback, 10-7 victory in Philadelphia. It was a nice snapshot into how Ruf has found his niche in the majors as a dangerous bat off the bench or a first baseman/left fielder who can do damage against lefties. The power is indeed real, even if it is better tapped into in spurts against lefties, entering play Wednesday with a pair of homers in 22 plate appearances.
He never found that role with the Phillies, who had a declining Ryan Howard at first base and asked Ruf to play a good deal of left and right field as a way to get his bat into the lineup. Ruf has never been quality on defense and especially was not in his first looks in the outfield. He was intriguing offensively but continued to flail when a righty was on the mound; he has a career average of .212 against righties.
He never proved himself as an everyday player but had obvious appeal to Farhan Zaidi. Zaidi’s Dodgers acquired him in November 2016 in hopes that he could become the player he has since become: a bat that kills lefties. But he never played a game with the Dodgers, who sold his contract to the Samsung Lions of the KBO, with Ruf wanting to go overseas for consistent playing time.
He lasted three years in South Korea, where he became a star, and Zaidi checked on him every offseason hoping he wanted to try MLB again. In 2020 the timing was right, with Ruf’s wife pregnant and the couple wanting the child born in the US.
Ruf’s swing has changed a bit over the years, but his attitude toward the game has remained from his time in Philly to his visiting Philly.
“I’ve always been even-keeled when it comes to sports in general. You can go ask high school coaches and college coaches. They will say I never really got too high or too low — probably say I didn’t take it as seriously as they would have liked,” Ruf said with a laugh. “That’s how I’ve always been and found my way to be successful.”
He walked around the city again, visiting Rittenhouse Square and having breakfast at Parc, a French bistro, on Tuesday, seeing the same haunts he had frequented so many years prior.
Nine years later, the “Babe Ruf” shirts are gone, as is his Phillies jersey. Ruf does not think he has changed all that much, but his status in the league as a proven weapon has. Zaidi’s Giants have found a platoon option with a lifetime .912 OPS against lefties.
Ruf said that he is “a little bit older, a little wiser.” But what has changed more than the player is his role.
