Mets catcher Wilson Ramos is the first player to make me feel old

Anywhere other than the baseball diamond and New York Mets catcher Wilson Ramos is still a young man. Because of his profession, he’s old and I’m feeling it, too.

“I don’t want him, he’s old,” is a common thing you’ll hear during the free agent period with baseball. We do it plenty when discussing the New York Mets. Their history over the last two decades or so has leaned toward adding older players past their prime.

The fact is, at some stage in your life, every free agent is old. So, unless the team is landing some prospects, you may start to feel the way I did when people began calling Mets catcher Wilson Ramos an old man.

In the baseball world, Ramos is indeed a young grandfather. Born on August 10, 1987, he has already had the opportunity to blow out 32 candles on his last birthday cake.

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I often look at many things from a baseball perspective. Sometimes, it gets a little out-of-hand.

For instance, in third grade, I remember learning one of my friends would not be in my class. I thought, “Well, maybe the teacher could always trade for him later on in the year.” This way of thinking was too common for my young baseball-centric mind.

Third grade was around the time when I really got into baseball. I began playing little league for the first time in my life. I was far from old, but now I may be. That’s because Ramos is only a few weeks my senior.

Am I old? The receding hairline, absence of hair on the top, and creaking knees say so.

Is Ramos old? Legions of Mets fans seemed to already think it before the team even signed him.

A 32-year-old catcher is far older than someone of the same age who does just about anything else. All of those foul tips, hours of squatting, and assault the game puts on a person’s body at that position can age you poorly.

Ramos may be a younger person in the real world, but in baseball, he’s nearing mummification.

What does this mean for me? Am I actually fresher than I believed the first time I saw a Mets fan scoff at the idea of signing Ramos to a multi-year deal?

All sports fans have a moment when there is finally a star player younger than them. Usually by your mid-20s, there are a couple of them. When you reach 30 years on this planet, you struggle to find someone younger on the roster.

Ramos was the first Mets player to make me feel like AARP information was headed to my mailbox.

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It’s one thing to look at the dates of birth of some players and see they’re still kids. It’s another to see someone who would have graduated high school with you and realize he’s considered old in his industry.