Ramon Laureano is the hero we all needed

On Sunday, Ramon Laureano joined Joe Kelly as the new fan favorites of a nation.

The Houston Astros have not exactly been on anyone’s good side this year. After AstroGate was blown open, it was felt that the league did not give out enough punishment nor that the players had felt any actual contrition. The players were left to police the game themselves, with animosity towards the Astros running high.

And so, on Sunday, after being hit by a pitch, Ramon Laureano found himself exchanging verbal pleasantries with hitting coach Alex Cintron. Eventually, Laureano charged the Astros dugout, looking to throw down with Cintron.

To be fair, Cintron did take a couple of steps towards Laureano. However, that quickly changed when he charged, as three Astros stepped forward while Cintron hid in the crowd. Laureano, however, was ready to go against whoever stepped forth.

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In those moments, Laureano became the latest hero that we did not know we needed. Nearly two weeks ago, Joe Kelly had an “unexpected” bout of wildness, throwing at Astros hitters and mocking Carlos Correa after striking him out. Due to his pitches, and his verbal mockery, benches cleared with Kelly being handed an eight game suspension.

However, the rest of the players had Kelly’s back. Many players, both past and present, stated their approval of his actions, saying that he had a spot on their teams at any time. After the league failed to take action, someone needed to. Joe Kelly was that someone.

And now, it is Laureano’s turn. With the league requiring social distancing, and the likelihood that severe punishments will be handed out for bench clearing altercations, he will probably be suspended. But given that the Astros accomplishments from the past few years are called into question, and how they banged their way to a rout against former Astro Mike Fiers, the A’s may smile upon these actions behind closed doors.

Ramon Laureano has become the latest hero we did not know that we needed. It just seems that the Astros bring out the best in everyone these days.