Hot Take: The 'Twisters' star who picks Lindor over Ohtani for NL MVP

If you didn’t know Anthony Ramos was an accomplished actor who’s starred in “Hamilton,” “In the Heights” and, most recently, “Twisters,” you’d think you were chatting with a huge baseball fan who could hold his own hosting a New York talk radio show every week.

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Ramos was born in Bushwick, Brooklyn, playing Little League for two different teams. He manned second base in high school at Halsey Junior High with dreams of playing in college and maybe beyond (his brother was a pitcher who played some independent ball). He started out as a Yankees fan, but around age 6, he transitioned his allegiance to the New York Mets -- falling in love with the underdog qualities of the team closer to his part of town.

“I grew up loving Mike Piazza, Al Leiter, Robin Ventura, Edgardo Alfonzo and all those guys,” Ramos told me in a recent phone call. “My blood is blue and orange.”

Like most of us, the Major Leagues unfortunately wasn’t in the cards for Ramos, but a life in acting was. He got a full scholarship to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and got his big break playing Philip Hamilton, the son of Alexander, in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s epic Broadway production. His career just took off from there -- with roles in summer blockbusters and Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominations.

Still, he’s maintained his ardent fandom for baseball and the Mets. And, being a baseball website, we wanted to get some of his takes on the sport and on his favorite team. Here’s our conversation -- edited for length and clarity.

MLB: Do you have a favorite all-time Met?

Anthony Ramos: Carlos Beltrán is probably my all-time favorite Met. But also, when you talk about overall, like all-time Mets, it might be Mike Piazza. It was crazy, I met him recently and I was like geekin’ out. He’s mad tall and I was like, "Yo bro, I’m so sorry, I hate to bother you, but can I please have a picture?"

But Carlos Beltrán, who I also recently met, probably at the same game as Piazza -- I had a crazy fanboy moment with him, too. I tried to keep it cool. After that run he went on with Houston in the playoffs, and the Mets got him, that was such a huge moment. He’s also Puerto Rican. He was fast, he hit for power, he had everything going for him.

MLB: What do you think about the Mets this year? Playoffs?

AR: I think they got a shot, bro. The way they’ve been playing in the second half. I feel like they’ve been heating up and have some momentum after that Subway Series. I felt like that was kind of like a turning point for them. I’m friends with Josh Cohen and Alex and I text them like, "Yo! Yesterday’s game was crazy." They’re all excited right now.

MLB: What about Francisco Lindor’s season? Is he the NL MVP?

AR: Maybe, bro! I think he just got another record, two straight seasons of 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases. He’s picked it up. He’s picked it up big-time.

MLB: So, do you think him over Ohtani?

AR: The thing about it, I think Ohtani getting into the 40-40 club, that may have sealed the deal. And he did it in 126 games. And he’s not gonna stop. If he gets to 50, I don’t know if they’re gonna give it to anybody but him.

But I’m still gonna say Lindor, because that’s my guy.

MLB: If you had to start a team today, for your first pick, are you taking Aaron Judge or Ohtani or somebody else?

AR: I’m taking Ohtani. He’s got an ERA of 3 for his career, plus, 212 home runs (now 215). ... I hate to be cliché, but I’m gonna join the club.

MLB: No, that’s fine. I mean, I think a lot of people might take Judge.

AR: Yeah, Judge is one of the best in the league. But like, I never thought we’d see another phenom like Babe Ruth. Ever. Ohtani is someone who I think can hit 714 home runs and retire with a 3.30 ERA or something. The last person you can talk about like this was Babe Ruth. You talk about the No. 1 pick, I want the dude who can do everything. The guy that can pitch, the guy that’ll hit 30 home runs, he’s sick.

MLB: Is there any other celebrity or somebody in Hollywood who’s secretly a great baseball or softball player?

AR: You know, apparently Daddy Yankee was nasty. I’ve never seen him play, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was really good. Reinaldo Marcus Green is really good, now that I’m thinking about it. Rei was fire. He directed “King Richard” and "Bob Marley: One Love." I was a part of one of his first films called “Of Monsters and Men.” They need to get him in the Celebrity Softball Game because he would flex.

MLB: Would you ever do a baseball movie? What would it be about?

AR: I wanna do a story about the Minor Leagues. Watching my brother play independent ball and just seeing that life. Some guys never make it to the Majors, but they stay in Triple-A where they’re making a good enough living and they’re good enough to play competitively, and then they get called up but they don’t do enough to stay in the big leagues. Minor League life, and even independent ball, is a wild life. Getting drafted and having to go through all those steps. High-A, Double-A, Triple-A and then hopefully getting called up to The Show. I would love to make a movie about a phenom who got to the Majors and then maybe got hurt and had to go back through the system. Something crazy like that.