‘He played the game because he loved it’ Manny Ramirez’s career made lasting impression on teammates, coaches

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If Albert Belle, Carlos Baerga and Kenny Lofton were the headliners from the great Cleveland Indians teams of the mid-1990s, then Manny Ramirez was the showstopper.

An insanely talented hitter who garnered a reputation as a wild card on the bases and in the outfield, Ramirez is remembered by his teammates, coaches and fans as one of the greatest players ever to wear a Cleveland uniform. For that he will be inducted into the Guardians Hall of Fame on Saturday during a pregame ceremony at Progressive Field.

Ramirez’s list of accomplishments during his eight seasons in Cleveland is impressive.

• A member of two American League Champion and five Central Division Champion teams.
• Runner-up for the 1994 AL Rookie of the Year.
• Four All-Star game appearances.
• Three Silver Slugger awards while in a Cleveland uniform.
• All-time franchise leader in slugging percentage (.592) and OPS (.998)
• Third all-time in franchise home runs (236).
• Fourth all-time in franchise on-base percentage (.407)
• Eighth all-time in franchise RBI (804)
• Ninth all-time in franchise extra-base hits (484).
• His 165 RBI during the 1999 season is a franchise record.

But for all of his achievements at the plate, the mercurial outfielder was not without his share of outlandish moments.

• In 1995 he left a paycheck in his cowboy boots during a game at Texas.
• During a traffic stop, Ramirez tried to talk his way out of a ticket by offering the officer tickets to an Indians game. After that did not work, he made an illegal U-turn and was issued a second ticket.
• Unfamiliar with the salaries of working sports reporters, Ramirez and Julian Tavarez once asked Cleveland beat writers Paul Hoynes and Sheldon Ocker to loan them money to purchase motorcycles.
• Ramirez once insisted on taking a bat that was obviously broken to the plate despite protests from his teammates. He used the bat to hit a home run.

Known for going through his teammates’ lockers and “borrowing” pants, cleats and other gear even if it did not fit, Ramirez often had clubhouse attendants scrambling to replace items for upset players. Longtime Cleveland clubhouse manager Tony Amato recalls that often, Ramirez found himself to be a scapegoat.

“Every time we lost something or a player couldn’t find what they were looking for, we’d tell them Manny took it,” Amato said.

But none of Ramirez’s eccentricities could overshadow the kind of teammate he was, or the type of talent that he put on display every day. Carlos Baerga, who played alongside Ramirez for parts of five seasons in Cleveland, described Ramirez as one of the best teammates he ever took the field with .

“He made us laugh with so many of the things he did, and he always came with the same attitude,” Baerga said. “I’ve never see anybody that worked harder.”

Baerga ranked Ramirez’s work ethic among some pretty legendary company.

“Manny, Albert Bell and Julio Franco,” Baerga said. “For them, it was about being prepared to hit every day. It was unbelievable.”

Baerga said Ramirez would arrive at the ballpark at 10 a.m. on game days, work out, watch video and then go home to sleep and get a bite to eat. Then he would come back to the park and do it all again before the game.

“Not too many players do that,” Baerga said. “It was amazing to watch.”

Baerga said Ramirez never cared about individual awards or accolades. When the two were teammates in Boston in 2002 Ramirez sent clubhouse attendants to pick up his Player of the Week and Player of the Month Awards.

“Manny was a guy that never played the game for trophies or to win awards,” Baerga said. “He played the game because he loved it.”

Guardians assistant hitting coach Victor Rodrίguez worked with Ramirez and David Ortiz in Boston. He said Ortiz talked about Ramirez every day, giving him credit for a lot of the success he achieved in his Hall of Fame career.

“Manny did things the right way and David learned to do things the right way by looking at Manny,” Rodrίguez said.

Ramirez’s work between games is what stands out to Rodrίguez. He said working with Ramirez made him a better coach.

“Looking at him and the way he went about his business taught me a lot about teaching hitting and the importance of having a routine and staying consistent with it,” Rodrίguez said. “I saw Ramirez do it and I saw Ortiz do it. I see José Ramírez do it now, and that’s the reason they are so good.”

Guardians manager Terry Francona ranks Ramirez among the best right-handed hitters he has ever seen along with Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols. When Francona arrived in Boston, Ramirez was already an established power threat with a wild streak.

“He was almost like a savant,” Francona said. “When he left the batters box, all bets were off. You were just hoping that when he got to first, he made a left. But in the batterers box, man, he was light years ahead of most of the other guys.”

Francona recalled watching Ramirez going through drills that tested his hand-eye coordination and pitch recognition ability in the clubhouse at Fenway Park.

“He would stand like he’s going to hit, and they had a hoop with colored and numbered balls that they would spin to him and he’d reach out,” Francona said. “When they threw it, they would say to him ‘yellow’ or ‘eight.’ There were days when he would just grab that certain number, and I’d be like, ‘He’s locked in.’ It was unbelievable. I don’t know how he could do it. It was incredible.”

Kenny Lofton patrolled center field next to Ramirez for seven seasons at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario. He described Ramirez as “very raw” when he reached the big leagues. The Gold Glove Award-winner knew that catching the ball was not always on Ramirez’s mind.

“Like Albert (Belle), both of ‘em, they thought about hitting,” Lofton said. “Defense wasn’t the first thing they thought about. It wasn’t the first thing they tried to work on, but over time Manny tried to learn things about the outfield. It still wasn’t his strong suit, but as he got older, he tried to work on it more. I give him credit for that. He wanted to hit. That was the bottom line.”

Lofton recalled the time during spring training that Ramirez hit three home runs in a game while borrowing bats from three different teammates for each plate appearance.

“He picked up (Wayne) Kirby’s bat, I think he used an (Alvaro) Espinoza bat and somebody else’s,” Lofton recalled. “But he did not use his own bat. He was that type of player. It was just amazing how talented he was. A lot of guys needed certain bat weights. He just basically grabbed whatever out of the bat rack and hit a home run.”

Ramirez’s uncanny ability to come through time and time again in the clutch was something that stuck with Baerga, as well.

“He was one of those guys that stepped on the field and you wanted him to hit in the eighth and ninth inning of a tight game,” Baerga said. “That was the guy that we wanted.”

It was a presence that stayed with Ramirez throughout his career. Francona recalled a walk-off win against the Angels when the two were in Boston and Ramirez called his shot.

“We were at Fenway and the game must’ve been in extra innings,” Francona said. “He was in the hole and he was going up the steps and he just looked at me and said ‘It’s time to go home.’ When he said it to me, I looked at (bench coach Brad Mills), I said, goddamn. He hit the ball almost to the turnpike off of (Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez). And I remember thinking, ‘Goddamn man, he didn’t do that all the time.’”

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