Kidnapped ballplayer Ramos found alive in Venezuela | Reuters

People stand outside the family house of kidnapped baseball player Wilson Ramos in Valencia November 10, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Eduardo Hernandez

By Daniel Wallis

CARACAS | Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:23pm EST

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan security forces found kidnapped Major League baseball player Wilson Ramos alive on Friday in mountains near where he was seized, Information Minister Andres Izarra said.

"Baseball player Ramos was found alive by security forces in mountainous area of Montalban, Carabobo state," Izarra said on Twitter.

There were few other details immediately available.

The 24-year-old Washington Nationals catcher was abducted by armed men on Wednesday night while he chatted with friends and relatives at his mother's home in the city of Valencia.

He had been due to play for the local Aragua Tigers during the U.S. off-season.

Kidnappings, armed robberies and murders are common in Venezuela, where worries about personal security routinely top surveys of voters' concerns before a presidential election next October.

Ramos' case particularly shocked this baseball-mad nation, putting huge pressure on the authorities to find him. He is one of the many players from Venezuela who have found stardom and wealth playing baseball in the United States.

Ramos is considered one of the more highly regarded catching prospects in baseball. He had a .267 batting average with 15 home runs and 52 runs batted in for the Nationals during the 2011 season, his first in the major leagues.

(Additional reporting by Mario Naranjo; Editing by Peter Cooney)

via reuters.com