Cleveland History: #11

Originally posted on my Substack (all content available for free) on May 18th, Re-Upping it here in honor of Jose's two homer game yesterday

Cleveland has never had a player like Jose Ramirez, at least not since Lou Boudreau and that simply was a different time. Players could not leave their ball clubs, unless they were traded or released, in the 1940s: Cleveland’s baseball heyday. So Hall of Famers Lou Boudreau, Bob Lemon & Bob Feller were stuck. In the ‘90s, Cleveland’s return to baseball glory, players controlled their own destiny after a fashion: and Cleveland saw its stars leave, eventually. Albert Belle left to sign a contract guaranteeing him a top salary in Major League Baseball; after declaring you would "have to tear his jersey off his back" for him to leave Jim Thome followed his hitting mentor to Philadelphia, and Cleveland declined to keep aging stars: Omar Vizquel & Kenny Lofton.

Nobody remains forever of course, but Cleveland has a history of their stars leaving for greener pastures. Jose Ramirez is the exception, and not due (entirely) to ownership’s efforts, but the will of the player to become the face of the franchise. Jose remains in Cleveland and now performs his duties with swagger and thunder; like taking Minnesota Twins closer Jhose Duran deep to break a tie ballgame during the first of a crucial three game set. At 31 Jose remains a dangerous hitter, a solid third baseman, and a daring baserunner.

And he wears one of my favorite (prime) numbers.

Cleveland Players Who Wore 11: 43

Player Who Wore 11 the Longest: Jose Ramirez (11 seasons)

I struggle to say new, interesting, things about the awesomeness that is Jose Ramirez, but he keeps finding ways to impress me. This year Jose has struggled to lay off pitches, and it shows in his diminished walk rate. It is unclear to me if this is Jose’s plate discipline deteriorating as he ages or a deliberate attempt to become more aggressive. Regardless: Jose still works pitchers and forces favorable matchups. On April 25th against the Red Sox Jose battled through a 10 pitch at-bat against Chase Anderson with the bases loaded, and then punished Chase by smacking a grand slam over the right field fence.

To start Jose did something he struggled to do this year and that’s lay off pitches. Jose forced Chase to get into the strike zone after missing with his first three pitches (none were particularly close); frankly even the first strike was something of a gift. He swung through a pitch before fouling off three straight cutters all relatively close to the edge of the zone, and then unloading on Chase’s mistake pitch in the heart of the plate.

Boom.

Jose’s elite ability to make contact allows him to battle through tough pitchers, but also means that Jose can reach pitches he probably should avoid (and that’s why Jose’s struggled: he is swinging at over 50% of the pitches he’s seen this year, a career high, and its resulting in too much weak contact). But Jose worked another pitcher again on May 6th, this time against Detroit’s Jake Flaherty. Again Jose forced Jake to throw a pitch in the strike zone, laying off two obvious balls, and even taking several close pitches at the corners; he fouled off two tough pitches near the zone (the umpire had been inconsistent all day) before finally getting the fastball he needed to launch it over the fence.

Finally, Jose worked another 10 pitch at-bat on May 5th against the Angels. This time Jose allowed his aggression get the better of him: he swung at several bad pitches he should not have, but his ability to simply keep bat-to-ball kept him in the at-bat. The pitch he smacked over the fence was barely in the zone at all; the fact he turned on it is astounding.

All three home runs were the go ahead/winning runs of the day. Jose’s just such a natural hitter. His sense of the strike zone is impressive. Personally I do not think there’s a hitting talent he lacks; he even bunts well (Jose led the league in sacrifice bunts his first full year in the bigs in 2014). He rarely strikes out, he draws walks, hits for power, and bends pitchers to his will.

No player comes close to the length of time wearing 11 in a Cleveland uniform; a number I suspect nobody else will wear again in Cleveland. Jose has worn 11 for 11 consecutive years. Nobody else wore 11 for even half that amount of time.

Other Cleveland Greats

Not many Cleveland players come to mind when I think of 11. Paul Sorrento spent four solid years in Cleveland, including the 1995 pennant winning season. Doug Jones wore 11 the three years he made the All-Star Game from 1988-1991 and went on to save over 300 games in his career. Toby Harrah, a slugging third baseman, spent a few years in Cleveland and wore 11 all four years of his tenure.

But the player whom I think we should also associate 11 with is Art Houtteman. Art joined Cleveland in 1953 after a trade with Detroit and joined a stocked rotation, the famous ‘Big Four’ rotation of Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, Early Wynn & Mike Garcia; the same year Cleveland set the American League record for win percentage (and a franchise record of 111 wins). Famously the ‘54 rotation featured three Hall of Famers in Lemon, Wynn & Feller. But in reality: Bob Feller was on his last legs, Houtteman, not Feller, was the real fourth starter behind Early Wynn, Mike Garcia & Bob Lemon.

Art’s career faltered after ‘54 and he retired in 1957.

Other Historic Greats

Three Hall of Famers primarily wore 11, most famously the great Venezuelan Luis Aparicio who wore 11 for the White Sox (Omar Vizquel briefly brought the number out of retirement with Aparicio’s blessing). Edgar Martinez wore 11 his whole career in Seattle and also played third base (when he played the field at all). Finally, Barry Larkin wore 11 for his hometown Cincinnati Reds.

A Final Word on Franchise Records

Jose is one of four players on the team to be the leader of appearances on the team wearing their uniform number. One is basically by default, one is Carlos Carrasco, and the other is Shane Bieber.

But I am sure Jose will set several franchise records before he retires. Here are some assorted leaderboards:

Home Runs: 4th

Jose Ramirez tied Earl Averill for 4th in franchise history with his home run on Friday. Manny Ramirez ranks 3rd with 236; a number I expect Jose to pass before the year is out. Six away from Manny sits Albert Belle with 242, another number I suspect Jose will pass before the year ends. The franchise leader in home runs is Jim Thome with 337. Jose wont catch Thome this year, but I can see Jose reaching 338 before his contract ends in five years.

Stolen Bases: 6th

Jose surpassed local legend Elmer Flick for 6th; I can see him passing Ray Chapman (31 away) and Nap Lajoie (33 away) sometime next year. Overall I think Jose will pass Omar Vizquel before his career ends, who ranks 2nd in team history with 279 stolen bases. Kenny Lofton’s franchise record of 452 is likely safe; Jose would need to steal nearly 50 bases a year to catch him, and Jose never stole more than 30.

Doubles: 6th

Jose is 6th with 330 doubles, he is 37 behind #5 Lou Boudreau and 156 behind franchise leader Tris Speaker. I do not think Jose will catch Lou this year, but the path for him to reach 3rd (ahead of Joe Sewell and Earl Averill) is clear for 2025. With 486 doubles, it will be a tough climb to beat Speaker; who is the all time leader in doubles, but it’s conceivable.

RBIs: 9th

Jose caught Larry Doby with his American League leading 38 RBIs and ranks 9th in franchise history with 784. Manny Ramirez sits only 20 away with 804, a number I expect Jose to easily surpass this season. If Jose stays on pace for about 130 RBIs this season he would pass every player ahead of him on the list except franchise leader Earl Averill who boasts 1084 RBIs. I think Jose will catch him easily, probably sometime in 2026.

Runs Scored: 10th

Finally, Jose ranks 10th in team history in Runs Scored with 812; Lou Boudreau is 11 away with 823. Joe Sewell & Nap Lajoie are both in striking distance, and I think Jose will sit right behind Omar Vizquel’s 906 runs for 7th all time in a Cleveland uniform. Earl Averill leads the franchise with 1154 runs scored; I think Jose can surpass this record too. Jose would need to score about 70 runs a season over the course of his contract to reach it: Jose has averaged almost 90 since he became a full time player.

Overall, I think Jose will end his career with franchise records in Home Runs, RBIs, and Runs Scored. He could also set the franchise record in Doubles too. Although Jose does not currently rank on the top 10 list for these statistics I think we can see Jose catch Nap Lajoie’s franchise record of 2047 Hits.

We are truly blessed to live in the era of Jose Ramirez.