Alex Ramirez
From BR Bullpen
Alexander Ramon Ramirez (Big Daddy)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 200 lb.
- Debut September 19, 1998
- Final Game September 27, 2000
- Born October 3, 1974 in Caracas, Venezuela
Venezuelan outfielder Alex Ramirez had several fine years in the minor leagues, had mixed results in parts of three seasons in the majors, then at the age of 25, was out of the major leagues. He became a star in Nippon Pro Baseball.
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[edit] 1992-1996: Early career
Signing with the Cleveland Indians at age 16, Alex debuted in 1992 with the DSL Indians, hitting .290 with 8 homers and 48 RBI. In '93, Ramirez was with the Burlington Indians most of the year, batting .270/~.306/.512 and he also briefly appeared for the Kinston Indians, going 2 for 12. He tied for fifth in the Appalachian League in home runs.
The 19-year-old was with the 1994 Columbus Redstixx and had a .251/.295/.432 line with 18 homers. In '95, Ramirez led the Cleveland farm system with 164 hits. He batted .248/~.275/.353 for the Canton-Akron Indians and .323/~.351/.468 with the Bakersfield Blaze, sixth in the California League in batting average. He made the Cal League All-Star team.
In 1996, Alex had 169 hits, again leading the Cleveland chain. Spending the whole year in Canton-Akron, he produced at a .329/~.350/.513 line and stole 18 bases but was caught 10 times. He almost had more triples (12) than walks (16). He was third in the Eastern League in average, led in triples and led in hits. He missed the All-Star team as MVP Vladimir Guerrero, slugging leader Adam Hyzdu and total bases leader Todd Dunwoody occupied the three outfield slots.
[edit] 1997-2000: The Rust Belt shuffle
By '97, Ramirez was up in AAA as a 22-year-old. He hit .286/~.325/.450 for the champion Buffalo Bisons squad and topped the International League with 8 triples, though his 10 outfield errors were also the most.
While Manny Ramirez was leading the 1998 Indians, Alex Ramirez was the star on the farm, leading the organization in homers, RBI and total bases and being named minor league player of the year for the system. He hit .299/~.320/.566 for Buffalo and had one 28-game hitting streak, second-longest in the minors that year (Casey Blake hit in 31 straight). Ramirez homered 34 times, less than International League leader Brian Daubach and helped the team finish first in the North. He made the IL All-Star team. Late in the year, he finally was called up to the majors, getting 8 AB in three games.
In '99, Ramirez had a .305/~.342/.502 line for Buffalo and .299/.327/.47432 3232 in Cleveland, good for a 99 OPS+. Alex hit .286/.316/.482 for the 2000 Indians, continuing to show above-league-average power and contact but poor OBP skills. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates with Enrique Wilson for Wil Cordero but sputtered in the 'Burgh, only hitting .209/.254/.383. Pittsburgh sold him after the season to the Yakult Swallows.
[edit] 2001-2007 : Swallows slugger
In 2001, his first year with Yakult, the right-hander hit .280/.320/.496 with 29 homers, 88 RBI and 132 K. While not nearly the threat of his teammate and countryman Roberto Petagine, Ramirez did play a role in Yakult taking the Central League pennant. In the 2001 Japan Series, the outfielder hit .167/.286/.444.
In 2002, Alex batted .295/.325/.475 with 24 HR, 92 RBI and 146 strikeouts. At age 28, he peaked at .333/.373/.616 with 40 homers, 105 runs and 124 RBI in 2003. He joined Kosuke Fukudome and Norihiro Akahoshi on the CL Best Nine outfield, was second to Makoto Imaoka in batting average, edged Fukudome in slugging by 12 points, was second to Fukudome in runs, drove in 17 more than runner-up George Arias, had 17 more hits than anyone else in the league and tied Tyrone Woods for the home run title.
With Petagine leaving Yakult in 2004, Alex became the cleanup hitter and batted .305/.341/.547 with 31 homers, 110 RBI and 118 whiffs. He slipped to .282/.315/.478 the next year, with 121 strikeouts, 32 homers and 104 runs batted in. In 2006, he became the fifth player in NPB history to reach 100 RBI in four consecutive seasons, following Sadaharu Oh, Koji Yamamoto, Katsuya Nomura, and Boomer Wells. He hit .272/.294/.455 with 24 HR through October 4 as his decline continued.
In the first NPB All-Star Game of 2007, Ramirez broke a 0-0 tie in the 7th by homering with Kosuke Fukudome aboard; Ramirez won the MVP Award and got 2 million yen for his performance. Tomonori Maeda followed with a homer in the 4-0 Central League win, their fifth in a row.
Ramirez became the third player in NPB history to collect 200 hits in a season when he did so in 2007. He followed Ichiro Suzuki and Norichika Aoki. He laced his 203rd hit on October 8, breaking Aoki's 2-year-old Central League record. He finished the season with 204 hits. He was the first right-handed batter in NPB history to have a 200-hit season. He was the first person to lead the league in hits while playing for a last-place team since Sachio Kinugasa in 1972 and the first RBI leader from a last-place team since Sadaharu Oh in 1975. He finished with a .343/.371/.569 batting line. He was second in average (right behind Aoki), first in doubles (41), 8th in runs (80), led in RBI (122, 20 ahead of Tyrone Woods and Takahiro Arai), led in total bases (338), was 9th in home runs (29), second in slugging (10 points behind Yoshinobu Takahashi) and sixth in OBP. He joined Takahashi and Aoki as the Best Nine outfielders in the CL.
[edit] 2008- : Giants
Ramirez signed with the Yomiuri Giants for 2008, signing for approximately one billion yen over two years. On September 21, he collected the 1,338th hit of his NPB career, breaking Wally Yonamine's long-held record for foreign batters.
Ramirez batted .319/.373/.617 in 2008. He was 7th in the Central League in average, 4th in hits (175), 6th in runs (84), 8th in doubles (28), led in RBI (125, 11 ahead of runner-up Shuichi Murata), led in total bases (338, 13 ahead of Murata), second in homers (45, one behind Murata), tied Tomoaki Kanemoto for the most intentional walks (9), was second to Murata in slugging and was 10th in OBP. For his efforts, he was named MVP of the league, the first foreigner to be so honored in the CL since Roberto Petagine, another Venezuelan, in 2001. He also starred in the postseason, hitting .286/.310/.643 in the 2008 Japan Series with 4 doubles and 2 homers in 7 games. In game one, his double off Hideaki Wakui drove in Yomiuri's lone run in a 2-1 loss. In game two, he broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the 9th with a game-winning homer off Shinya Okamoto. He homered in a game 3 win as well. In game five, he started Yomiuri's 7th-inning comeback with a hustling double off Wakui and came around to score the tying run. He scored Yomiuri's only run in game 6 against Kazuyuki Hoashi. He won the Fighting Spirit Award as the MVP of the losing team.
