The Legend Of Cleveland Guardians’ Favorite Son Jose Ramirez Continues To Grow

There’s a reason why Jose Ramirez is one of the most popular players in the history of the Cleveland Guardians franchise. Indeed, when all is said and done, Ramirez may be THE most popular Cleveland baseball star ever.

There are a lot of reasons for that. But the two biggest, the two top Jose Moments that will live forever in the hearts and minds of Guardians fans everywhere have occurred in the last two years.

The first came at the start of last season, when Ramirez made the stunning decision to not do what virtually all previous Cleveland baseball stars have done when they became eligible for free agency:

Leave.

Ramirez didn’t.

To the contrary, Ramirez signed a seven-year, $141 million contract to stay in Cleveland for, in all likelihood, the remainder of his career. Ramirez’s decision stunned everyone, for multiple reasons. Chief among those were he low-balled himself, settling for $141 million, which was well below the going rate for a five-time all-star, and six-time MVP vote getter (five of those being a second-place finish, two thirds, a fourth, and a sixth).

He also, at age 29, and squarely in what should be an extended peak to his career, had all the chips on his side of the table. But instead of entering the free agent market and waiting for the offers to roll in, Ramirez decided to accept an under-value contract and stay in Cleveland, where, he said, he’s most comfortable, and where he will almost certainly finish what may become a Hall of Fame career.

In the eyes of the fans, that decision stamped the already-wildly-popular Ramirez as a Cleveland hero forevermore.

Then he topped himself.

The topper came last Saturday night, in the bottom of the sixth inning in Cleveland’s 7-4 loss to the White Sox at Progressive Field. With Cleveland losing 5-0, the switch-hitting Ramirez lined an RBI double into the right field corner, then arrived safely at second base by sliding head-first between the legs of Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson.

Anderson took his time in relinquishing the bag to Ramirez, who eventually was able to get to his feet. The two players began jawing at one another, while maneuvering into a boxing pose. Then, suddenly, and thanks to Guardians’ radio play-by-play man Tom Hamilton, they staged a re-enactment of the famous George Foreman vs. Joe Frazier heavyweight fight 50 years ago.

Anderson and Ramirez both threw punches that failed to connect, but then Ramirez threw a right hook into Anderson’s jaw, sending Anderson tumbling to the ground.

Hamilton, channeling Howard Cosell, never missed a beat: “Down goes Anderson! Down goes Anderson!”

All the while, as the Ramirez-Anderson main event was unfolding, the sellout crowd of 35,823 instantly segued into the unofficial, lyrically-challenged Jose Ramirez theme song, which goes something like this: “Jose! Jose! Jose! Jose!. . . Jose! Jose!. . . Jose! Jose! Jose! Jose!. . . etc., etc.

What had started out as a relatively-civil double into the right field corner, had morphed into a full-blown Cleveland baseball mardi gras, with both teams charging onto the field as skirmishes broke out everywhere, backed by the home fans’ inspiring soundtrack of “Jose! Jose! Jose! Jose!”

Meanwhile, the already secure, but still growing legend of favorite son Jose Ramirez to the city of Cleveland – the kid who could have left town, but didn’t – grew a little more.

The switch-hitting, 5-foot-9, 190-pound, 30-year-old dynamo, who arrived in Cleveland in 2013 as an unheralded 20-year-old without a position, methodically hit and hustled his way into prominence in a couple of seasons.

For a handful of those seasons Ramirez and the more glamourous Francisco Lindor manned the left side of the infield for some of the best teams in Cleveland history. But it became obvious that if either was destined for a long run in Cleveland it would be Ramirez, not Lindor.

Cleveland’s front office knew it, too. Guardians officials knew they had no chance of retaining the gold-digging Lindor over the lunch pail-carrying Ramirez, and the 10-year, $341 million contract Lindor signed with the Mets after Cleveland traded him to New York proved it.

That left Cleveland with Ramirez, which was a better fit for both.

That has always been the case. Ramirez’s popularity among Cleveland fans is, and always has been, authentic. He’s one of them. They know it, and they adore it.

How many ballplayers out there are worshipped by their fans with a one-word theme song?

How many players connect viscerally with their fans to this degree?

Well, there’s one in Cleveland, who, as expected, was suspended for three games by Major League Baseball for authoring “Down goes Anderson!”

He’s appealing the suspension, which in Cleveland makes him even more appealing.

If that’s even possible.