"Every team in baseball could use a guy like Jose Ramirez and I'm glad we've got him." Ramirez quit school at 14 to follow his baseball dreams. He's certainly living them out in 2016.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jose Ramirez has a signature strut.
He tilts his head upward, lifts and locks his shoulders and, with each step he takes, he swings his arms like giant pendulums. He strides past the scale one quiet, Sunday morning -- weigh-in day -- and chirps at a strength coach that he weighs 131 pounds (he's listed at 180).
Indians manager Terry Francona often says that Ramirez walks around as if he owns the place.
But for a guy with such a renowned strut, Ramirez is a bit mysterious. What do we know about the stocky, 24-year-old hit machine with a burnt-orange mohawk, a loose-fitting helmet, a cheek full of chaw and a limited English vocabulary? It isn't a simple task to find out more.
One day last week, during open clubhouse hours, Ramirez left to grab breakfast. He never returned. The next day, he stepped away to get "treatment," which began with a 25-minute card game with teammate Mike Napoli at a round table in the middle of the clubhouse.
The day after that, Ramirez bolted for the trainer's room. He claimed that the trainer had woken up in a "bad, crazy mood" and had threatened to send him down to Triple-A if he didn't report immediately. Ramirez surely wouldn't want that. The last time he was demoted -- in the summer of 2015 -- his parents had traveled to Cleveland to see him play in the big leagues for the first time.
Ramirez, nicknamed "Mini" by many of his teammates, is elusive and crafty, a pair of qualities he carries onto the field. He's also energetic and dependable, a couple of attributes his teammates appreciate.
For a while, his brash ways didn't jive with his output on the diamond. That signature strut through the clubhouse wasn't backed by a bat worth boasting about.
Now, it has all materialized. The kid who quit school at 14 to pursue a baseball career has realized the dream he hatched as a 7-year-old playing in the Fortunas Little League in Bani, Dominican Republic.
Ramirez and Uribe: 'Mini' and 'The Turkey'
'Just keep on fighting'
The confidence came early.
Ramirez was more gifted than his peers, and they knew it. He stood out on the baseball field, or when playing Vitilla, a version of the sport in which they used a broomstick to hit a big water bottle cap.
"The kids that were my age always thought that I was older than I was, because I was so much better than them," Ramirez said, through team interpreter Anna Bolton.
Ramirez signed with the Indians in November 2009, when he was 17. He later reported to the team's academy in the Dominican, about an hour and a half from his home.
"[My parents] were super happy," Ramirez said. "They had this joy inside of them -- wow, it made me feel so happy."
The Indians' academy in the Dominican. They share an area with the Rockies.Courtesy of Anna Bolton
The Indians' complex has cinder-block walls and cement floors. There's a kitchen and a cafeteria with a handful of tables and plastic chairs. There's a weight room and a rec room, with a TV and a couple of couches. The players request to hold class in the rec room, since it's the only area with an air conditioning unit.
Several days per week, Ramirez attended English language and American culture classes, as well as Spanish critical thinking and literature classes. The rest of the time, the players completed baseball drills and relaxed in the dormitory, one large room with bunk beds on all four walls for the 35-40 players.
After a year at the academy, Ramirez, still a teenager, ventured to Goodyear, Arizona, to begin his minor-league journey.
"It was really hard, because I was spending months and months without my family and I was used to being with them all the time," Ramirez said. "It was difficult, but they motivated me and they called me. When we talked, they were like, 'This is your job. Keep working hard. We will see you soon. Just keep on fighting.'
"I always wanted to get them a visa so they could come here. Thank God, now they can."
Ramirez's flying helmet trick
'That wasn't him'
Earlier this summer, a black shirt hung in the Indians' dugout before a game. On it was a photo of Jose Ramirez's face, with a bright orange burst of flames acting as his hair.
"He runs and walks around like he's on fire," said Tribe catcher Chris Gimenez. "It's fitting."
When Ramirez earned his first promotion to the big leagues in 2013, he primarily served as a pinch-runner. Third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh noted that communicating with Ramirez was a hurdle. The language barrier persisted in 2015, especially as Ramirez struggled as the club's primary shortstop.
"When he was really struggling, I remember somebody telling me he felt like he was on an island," Francona said. "My answer was that was my biggest fear. It was frustrating with a young player [when you can't help]."
Ramirez lost his job to Francisco Lindor last June, after he batted .180 with a .487 OPS through the first two months of the season. He returned to Triple-A Columbus to rediscover that bravado, the fire that makes him who he is.
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"What you're seeing now is what he was [in the minors]," said pitcher Danny Salazar. "What you saw last year, in the beginning of the year, that wasn't him.
"Sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves because we think we have to do everything perfect, like we're going to get sent down [if we don't]. Sometimes it's hard to bring the confidence back."
Ramirez tallied at least one hit in each of his first 17 games upon his return to Triple-A.
"He has such a belief in himself," said assistant hitting coach Matt Quatraro.
It has been on full display this season, as Ramirez has learned left field, filled in at third base, occupied every spot in Francona's lineup and produced at every stop along the way.
"He doesn't say a lot," said right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall. "He'll say, 'Hello,' things like that. But he carries a good swagger about him, which he carries over to his game."
Jose Ramirez goes 'Orange'
'That's the guy you want'
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While he waits for Napoli, Ramirez sits at a table in the center of the Indians' clubhouse, unaware that the two people nearby are talking about him.
One of them, Gimenez, stops mid-sentence and yells, "Mini!" Ramirez spins around and the two slap hands. When Ramirez faces the other way, Gimenez studies his teammate's hair.
"It is absolutely atrocious," the veteran says. "But he owns it. He rocks it, so I give him a ton of credit. He's such a fun-loving guy. We love making fun of his hair."
Gimenez said it wasn't supposed to look like this. Ramirez arrived at Target Field after the All-Star break with the new look. He told his teammates that he put the chemicals in his hair and it started to burn his scalp.
"He's like, 'I don't care. Get it out,'" Gimenez said. "It was supposed to be blonde, bright blonde."
Francona quipped that Ramirez looked "like he went through a car wash while in a convertible."
Ramirez dubbed his new style "Orange." Bullpen catcher Ricky Pacione suggested the nickname "Clutch Cut." That would certainly fit.
"How many humongous hits has that guy gotten for us this year?" Gimenez said. "It's been amazing."
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Ramirez delivered the game-tying solo home run that set the stage for Tyler Naquin's inside-the-park marvel against the Blue Jays in mid-August. Two days later, he socked a go-ahead blast against Toronto with two outs in the eighth. In early September, he erased the Indians' deficit with a two-out, two-run single in the ninth. He capped Cleveland's Father's Day affair with a walk-off single. He contributed another walk-off hit against the Tigers last weekend. The list never relents.
"That's the guy you want up at the plate in those situations," said catcher Roberto Perez.
Ramirez ranks second in the American League with 42 doubles. He is one of five Indians players to ever register 10 homers, 40 doubles and 20 stolen bases in a season. His helmet has plunged to the infield dirt on more than 50 occasions this season.
He tends to make his presence felt most when there are runs on the horizon. Ramirez entered Wednesday's action with a .356/.403/.470 slash line with runners in scoring position.
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"When he's on the bases, his helmet is flying, he's having a lot of fun," Sarbaugh said. "As the season has gone on, that confidence has grown and grown."
Encouragement from his family has aided the cause. (His parents like his hair, by the way.) Ramirez and his 14-year-old brother communicate frequently via What's App, a messaging app.
"He's always telling me that they're watching me and supporting me," Ramirez said. "That really inspires me to always do my best."
He described this as a dream season, one that figures to include a taste of the postseason. Ramirez has already demonstrated a knack for creating memorable moments at the plate. Could he have more in store for October?
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Better yet, could he have imagined this opportunity when he shifted his focus from school to baseball a decade ago? He had everything to lose, but a career and a dream to attain.
"Sometimes when I'm going through bad times, I'll sit down and think about all of the sacrifices that I made to get here," Ramirez said. "I've had to keep fighting. This is the job that I chose, so I have to keep working hard.
"This is the only thing that I know."
That, and how to walk around like he owns the place. He does it in the clubhouse and on the diamond.
"It doesn't ever look like there's any pressure on him," said Tribe closer Cody Allen. "He thrives in big spots. He owns those big situations.
"Every team in baseball could use a guy like Jose Ramirez and I'm glad we've got him."
