Guardians To Honor Ramirez And Mitchell

• April 24, 2023

CLEVELAND — Manny Ramirez and Dale Mitchell, outfielders of divergent styles from different eras will enter the Cleveland Guardians‘ Hall of Fame this summer. Induction ceremonies will take place before a 7:10 p.m. game against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, August 19.

Ramirez was one of the most feared sluggers in the game for 19 years, the first eight (1993-2000) in Cleveland. While he pounded baseballs into oblivion, the Dominican native had a reputation for being, shall we politely say, defensively challenged.

Mitchell was much the opposite, a contact hitter and fleet outfielder with fine instincts that surely would have earned a gold glove or two. That award was first given in 1957, a year after he retired.

Ramirez, the 13th pick in the 1991 draft out of high school in New York City, was a mainstay on Cleveland’s dominating powerhouse in the 1990s. With Cleveland, he played in four All-Star games and won three Silver Slugger awards. He also provided many Manny memories, including this blast off Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley in 1995:

Mitchell, who died at age 65 in 1987,  was a key member of Cleveland’s last World Series championship team in 1948. That year, the left fielder batted .336 in 141 games. He played all but 19 games of his career (1946-56) with the Indians, hitting .312 overall and playing in two All-Star games.

His Final At-Bat

The Brooklyn Dodgers bought Mitchell’s contract in late July of 1956. He hit .292, mostly as a pinch hitter in the last two months as Brooklyn won a wild pennant race. The Dodgers finished with a 93-61 record, one game ahead of the Milwaukee Braves and two in front of the Cincinnati Reds. Mitchell then went hitless in four pinch-hitting chances in the first five games of the World Series. In Game 5, he came up with two outs in the ninth inning. With a 1-2 count, Mitchell tried to check his swing, but plate umpire Babe Pinelli ruled he swung for strike three. Catcher Yogi Berra leaped into the arms of Don Larsen, who had just pitched a perfect game.

That final pitch of the New York Yankees‘ 2-0 win was the last Mitchell faced in his career.

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Mitchell signed with Cleveland as a 24-year-old free agent after serving in World War II in the Army Air Force as a quartermaster (1942-45). In 1949, he led the AL in hits (203) and triples (23). Those triples rank second in franchise history to the 26 hit by Shoeless Joe Jackson in 1912. Mitchell finished in the top five in AL batting average three times. He also led AL left fielders in fielding percentage three times. His last full year was 1953. He was mostly a pinch hitter in 1953-56.

Manny Being Manny

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The first use of the phrase in print was attributed to Indians manager Mike Hargrove in a 1995 Newsday story. Manny was already known for his singular obsession with baseball while ignoring everything else on the planet. Said his high-school coach Steve Mandl: “If I told Manny to be there for a game at 1 p.m., he was there two hours early. If I said the team picture was at 1 p.m., he’d forget and not show up.”

When asked about the time Ramirez forgot his paycheck in a pair of boots at a visitor’s clubhouse, Hargrove said, “That’s just Manny being Manny. He’s a lot better than he was two years ago.”

Manny being Manny also meant driving in runs. His 165 RBI in 1999 are the team record. Overall in 957 games for Cleveland, he batted .313 with 237 doubles, 236 homers, and 804 RBI. His final at-bat in an Indians uniform was legendary. Facing free agency, he blasted a pitch from Toronto’s John Frascatore 458 feet and over the center-field wall. Those who saw it insist it was Ramirez’s way of saying goodbye.

Afterwards, he typically shunned the press. He signed an eight-year, $160 million deal with the Boston Red Sox two months later. The legend grew.

Post-Season Fun

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Ramirez played in 111 post-season games and 42 of them were with Cleveland. He started slow, going 0-for-12 in the 1995 AL Division Series against Boston but seldom struggled again in October. He hit 13 of his 29 post-season homers for Cleveland and was particularly lethal in 1998. In four games against Boston, he hit .357 with two homers. Then in a six-game series loss to the Yankees, he hit .333 and launched two more homers.

He continued that production with Boston and really was on postseason fire for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008. In three games against the Chicago Cubs, he had two homers and hit .500. Next came a .533 mark and two more homers in five games against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cleveland’s Hall of Fame

Mitchell and Ramirez will be the 46th and 47th players or managers inducted.  Cleveland became the first team to establish its own Hall of Fame in 1951.  Inductees are selected by a committee consisting of baseball historians, writers, broadcasters, and executives. The player must have been active at least three seasons for Cleveland and be retired for at least one year.  In 2009, the organization established the Distinguished Hall of Fame to honor those non-uniformed personnel whose contributions made a significant impact on the fortunes of the franchise.

The List

Here are the 45 players already in the team’s Hall of Fame. Included are the seasons they played in Cleveland and the year they were inducted.

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