“I just had to push a little bit more,” he said. Ramirez was asked what changed down the stretch. Boxing Junkie scored it 115-113 for Ramirez, seven rounds to five. Thus, the official scores – 116-112 on all three cards – made sense. Then, beginning in Round 9, Ramirez picked up his pace and imposed his will on Pedraza, who danced more than he fought in the final few rounds. He landed precise, well-timed punches that seemed to turn the tide in the fight. Pedraza looked particularly strong in the middle rounds, when he found a groove. The Puerto Rican countered effectively at times and stayed on his toes, which made it difficult for Ramirez to cut off the ring. However, he couldn’t take full control of the fight because of Pedraza’s formidable boxing ability and athleticism. Ramirez (27-1, 17 KOs) stalked Pedraza (29-4, 14 KOs) from the opening bell and had success, landing jabs and power shots to the head and body with some consistency. Mikey Williams / Top Rank Inc via Getty Images He’s appealing the suspension, which in Cleveland makes him even more appealing.Jose Ramirez (left) outpointed Jose Pedraza on Friday night in Fresno, California. Well, there’s one in Cleveland, who, as expected, was suspended for three games by Major League Baseball for authoring “Down goes Anderson!” How many players connect viscerally with their fans to this degree? How many ballplayers out there are worshipped by their fans with a one-word theme song? Ramirez’s popularity among Cleveland fans is, and always has been, authentic. That left Cleveland with Ramirez, which was a better fit for both. Guardians officials knew they had no chance of retaining the gold-digging Lindor over the lunch pail-carrying Ramirez, and the 10-year, $341 million contract Lindor signed with the Mets after Cleveland traded him to New York proved it. But it became obvious that if either was destined for a long run in Cleveland it would be Ramirez, not Lindor.Ĭleveland’s front office knew it, too. The switch-hitting, 5-foot-9, 190-pound, 30-year-old dynamo, who arrived in Cleveland in 2013 as an unheralded 20-year-old without a position, methodically hit and hustled his way into prominence in a couple of seasons.įor a handful of those seasons Ramirez and the more glamourous Francisco Lindor manned the left side of the infield for some of the best teams in Cleveland history. Meanwhile, the already secure, but still growing legend of favorite son Jose Ramirez to the city of Cleveland – the kid who could have left town, but didn’t - grew a little more. What had started out as a relatively-civil double into the right field corner, had morphed into a full-blown Cleveland baseball mardi gras, with both teams charging onto the field as skirmishes broke out everywhere, backed by the home fans’ inspiring soundtrack of “Jose! Jose! Jose! Jose!” Hamilton, channeling Howard Cosell, never missed a beat: “Down goes Anderson! Down goes Anderson!”Īll the while, as the Ramirez-Anderson main event was unfolding, the sellout crowd of 35,823 instantly segued into the unofficial, lyrically-challenged Jose Ramirez theme song, which goes something like this: “Jose! Jose! Jose! Jose!. Joe Frazier heavyweight fight 50 years ago.Īnderson and Ramirez both threw punches that failed to connect, but then Ramirez threw a right hook into Anderson’s jaw, sending Anderson tumbling to the ground. Then, suddenly, and thanks to Guardians’ radio play-by-play man Tom Hamilton, they staged a re-enactment of the famous George Foreman vs. The two players began jawing at one another, while maneuvering into a boxing pose. With Cleveland losing 5-0, the switch-hitting Ramirez lined an RBI double into the right field corner, then arrived safely at second base by sliding head-first between the legs of Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson.Īnderson took his time in relinquishing the bag to Ramirez, who eventually was able to get to his feet. The topper came last Saturday night, in the bottom of the sixth inning in Cleveland’s 7-4 loss to the White Sox at Progressive Field. In the eyes of the fans, that decision stamped the already-wildly-popular Ramirez as a Cleveland hero forevermore.
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