El veintidós de enero/January 22nd
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Carlos Ruiz! (Carlos Joaquín "Chooch" Ruiz) (1979- ) As a lifelong Phillies fan who was teaching in a Philadelphia school when the Phillies won the 2008 World Series with Chooch, I have to say, this one's personal! We all love Chooch (an he loves us back! See this billboard he bought to tell us so in 2016). Photo from philly.com. Click HERE . Carlos Ruiz is a professional baseball player from Panama who played with the Phillies for 11 seasons (he also played for the L.A. Dodgers and Seattle Mariners). A catcher called the "heart and the soul" of the team when they won the World Series in 2008 (see his Game Three game-winning hit in this fan video, HERE ), Ruiz won teammates and fans over with his humility and humor -- not to mention hard work. His nickname, Chooch, is actually a variation of the F-bomb in Panama that Ruiz used to mutter under his breath when unhappy with his performance. This was ...