The magical 2012 season for Purdue continues to produce great stories. Today it was announced that weekday starter Robert Ramer, who signed a contract last summer with the independent Evansville Otters of the Frontier League, signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco Giants and is off to affiliated minor league ball:
Ramer was 10-1 with Evansville and is tied with right-hander Amad Stephens for the highest winning percentage (.909) of any pitcher in the Otters' 20-year history. The Sunnyvale, California, native was a Frontier League best 7-0 this season with a 1.90 ERA, which is seventh lowest of any qualifier this year.
Ramer was quite productive in his time at Purdue. He transferred in 2009 and started playing in 2010, which coincided with the rise of Purdue in the Big Ten. He threw in 10 games in 2010 with three starts and had a microscopic 0.66 ERA with teams hitting only .184 against him. He was 2-0 and even finished with a save in 21 1/3 innings.
In 2011 he moved into the role of midweek starter and was extremely successful there over the next two years. He was 5-0 in 2011 in six starts and 13 appearances with a 4.91 ERA in 40 1/3 innings. In 2012, when Purdue won the Big Ten, he was 6-1 with a 2.86 ERA in 12 appearances, 10 of them starts. He was once again the midweek guy and pitched well in a 2-1 extra inning midweek win over NCAA team Indiana State. He was the starter in the Big Ten Tournament championship win over Indiana and started the final game of the season, where he took his first career loss against Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. He only gave up a pair of earned runs in that loss, as a major error in center field doomed Purdue.
In 2013 as a senior, Ramer struggled mostly because of how much Purdue lost from the great 2012 team. He was thrown into the role as the No. 1 starter and went 3-5 with a 4.76 ERA in 15 appearances, 13 of them starts. He was still solid in 90 2/3 innings, leading the staff in innings pitched but the lack of offense due to player losses led to his struggles. He still was 16-6 in his time at Purdue and was a key member of the best team in school history.
Ramer is the 10th player from the 2012 team to make it to affiliated minor league baseball, and three members (Nick Wittgren, Kevin Plawecki, and Cameron Perkins) could be in the majors as soon as next year.