New Arrival: Alex Ramirez, of, Cleveland Indians
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When you think Hall of Fame players who wore a Cleveland uniform, you don’t normally think of outfielder Alex Ramirez. But here we are. I am excited to add this autograph to my collection since he is not easy to get—he lives in Japan—and never does signings.
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Ramirez was a decent prospect for Cleveland in the mid-90’s. He had a nice mixture of pop and speed, but like so many prospects, strikeouts were a problem. Ramirez was also a contending team and did not have many at-bats to hand out at the major league level, especially with an outfield of Brian Giles, Kenny Lofton, David Justice, and Manny Ramirez. He made the majors in 1998 and 1999 with Cleveland, but strikeouts remained an issue. In July 2000, Cleveland traded him, along with MIF Enrique Wilson, to the Pirates for Wil Cordero. Ramirez spent the remainder of the 2000 season with Pittsburg, and it would be his last season in the major leagues.
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But his career was far from over. In late 2000, he was purchased by the Yakult Swallows of the Japanese Central League, and Ramirez would spend the next 13 seasons in Japan. During this period he cemented himself as not only one of the greatest Hispanic players in Japanese baseball history but one of the greatest NPB players ever. He was a two-time Central League MVP, two-time Japanese Series Champion, was selected to eight All-Star teams, four times to the Best Nine, and is the only foreign player in NPB history to have 2000 hits. He was inducted into the Meikyukai (“Golden Players Club”) in 2013, and in 2023 was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.