CLEVELAND — José Ramírez has made a tremendous impact on not only the Guardians organization but Cleveland overall during his stellar 13-season big league career. And on Saturday, the city will honor one of the best professional athletes it has seen.
The City of Cleveland, in partnership with the Guardians, will recognize Ramírez by naming a street after him. “José Ramírez Way” will connect José Ramírez Field at Clark Field with Clark Ave.
Ramírez will become the first active athlete to have a street named after him in Cleveland. A ceremony to present him with new street signs will be held on Saturday. It will include members of the Guardians and City of Cleveland officials, including city council president Blaine Griffin.
On the field, Ramírez continues to solidify a resume that will likely earn him a place in Cooperstown one day. On Thursday, he became Cleveland’s all-time leader in extra-base hits, which is one of many franchise records he could set by the end of his career.
Ramírez entered Friday with 285 career homers, second in franchise history to Hall of Famer Jim Thome (337). He ranked second in stolen bases (283), behind only Kenny Lofton (452). On Wednesday, he became the second player in team history to tally 3,000 career total bases, joining Earl Averill.
“It’s fun to watch,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “It’s truly a pleasure that we get to all watch him every night and take it for granted because it’s impossible to cherish it as much as we do every single day. José Ramírez is one of the best players on the planet, and we get to watch him every day.
“He leads our guys. He makes people better. It’s the teammate just as much as the player that really does it.”
