Career comes full circle for Pirates' Ramirez

PITTSBURGH - When the Cubs open a four-game series against the Pirates at PNC Park with a doubleheader Tuesday, they'll come face to face with an old friend trying to beat them in a key situation.

Third baseman Aramis Ramirez is back with the Pirates, the team that originally signed him as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic in 1994.

Ramirez is one of those rare athletes who gets to bookend his career with the same organization. After a July trade from the Milwaukee Brewers, Ramirez is back where he started and in a pennant race.

"Nice," he said last week while the Pirates were finishing a series in St. Louis. "This is the team that I came up with to the big leagues and playing for something in September. It wasn't a good situation in Milwaukee. So I couldn't have asked for anything better.

"There is something to play for. When you go up to the plate with guys on base, you have the opportunity to help the team make the playoffs. I'm not playing any more (after this year), so let's make it count."

During the middle of his big-league career - which started in 1998 at Pittsburgh - Ramirez was one of the most productive hitters in Cubs history.

In parts of nine seasons in Chicago, Ramirez put up a line of .294/.356/.531 with 239 home runs, 806 RBI, 256 doubles and 14 triples over 1,124 games.

He ranks sixth on the team's all-time home run list behind Sammy Sosa, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Ryne Sandberg. His .531 slugging percentage is third behind only Hack Wilson and Sosa. Ramirez's RBI total puts him just out of the team's top 10.

Former Cubs general manager Jim Hendry obtained Ramirez in the middle of the 2003 season in one of the most lopsided trades ever made by the team. Ramirez and center fielder Kenny Lofton came from the Pirates in exchange for infielders Jose Hernandez and Bobby Hill and minor-league pitcher Matt Bruback.

The Pirates GM at the time was Dave Littlefield, who later ended up working for the Cubs. The joke was that hiring Littlefield was Hendry's way of saying thank you for Ramirez.

Both Ramirez and Lofton were key contributors to the Cubs' run to the National League championship series in 2003, and Ramirez had several big hits in 2007 and 2008, when the Cubs also won division titles.

When the Pirates come to town for a three-game series Sept. 25, it's a good bet the Cubs will honor Ramirez in some way, perhaps with a video tribute.

Despite his numbers, including an OPS of .887, Ramirez's tenure in Chicago may have gone underappreciated by some Cubs fans. When Ramirez's legs hurt him, he was told to take it easy running the bases, and some perceived that as a lack of hustle.

Ramirez was never a vocal leader, but he would quietly get after teammates.

And although most sabermetricians have debunked the notion of "clutch" hitters existing, Ramirez always seemed able to get a big run in from third base.

When I asked him how he'd like to be remembered, he pondered the question for a few seconds.

"I don't know, man, I really don't know," he said. "Everybody has a different look. They look at players differently. They look at things differently. I'm just a guy who comes and plays every single day.

"I've been a big RBI guy my whole career, so that's probably how they're going to remember me."

At 37, Ramirez is trying to get to a World Series for the first time. The Cubs came agonizingly close in '03 and were blown out of the playoffs without a victory in '07 and '08. Ramirez left for Milwaukee via free agency after the 2011 season.

"I played there eight-plus years," he said of his time as a Cub. "I can't regret a bit. If I had to do it again, I would. We made the playoffs three times. I thought I did my job every single year there. Just a real fun time.

"The goal for every single baseball player, for every manager, is to be in the World Series. We didn't achieve that. We were close a few times. I thought in '08 we had a great team, and we didn't do it.

"Sometimes it doesn't work the way you expect."

Cubs scouting report

Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park

TV: Comcast SportsNet Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday; WGN Tuesday night and Thursday

Radio: WBBM 780-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Jason Hammel (8-6) vs. Gerrit Cole (16-8) today at 12:35 p.m.; Jon Lester (9-10) vs. J.A. Happ (5-1) today at 6:05 p.m.; Jake Arrieta (19-6) vs. A.J. Burnett (8-5) Wednesday at 6:05 p.m.; Kyle Hendricks (7-6) vs. Charlie Morton (9-7) Thursday at 11:35 a.m.

What's at stake: The immediate prize is the top wild-card spot in the National League and homefield advantage in the one-game play-in. The Pirates (86-56) hold a 4-game lead over the Cubs (82-60) for the first wild-card spot. Both teams hope to catch the St. Louis Cardinals (89-54) for first place in the Central. The Cubs and Pirates will meet at Wrigley Field Sept. 25-27. The Cubs lead the season series 7-5.

The Cubs' ace: Arrieta has a 1.99 ERA to go along with his 19-6 record. His WHIP is 0.92. Neither Arrieta nor Cole was his team's opening-day starter. Arrieta has put himself into serious consideration for the Cy Young Award. He is shooting to become the first Cubs 20-game winner since Jon Lieber in 2001.

The Pirates' ace: Cole has a 2.54 ERA to go with his 16-8 record. His WHIP is 1.12. He is looking to become the first Pirates pitcher with more than 16 wins in a season since John Smiley went 20-8 in 1991.

The Cubs' MVP candidate: First baseman Anthony Rizzo has a line of .278/.388/.523 with 29 home runs and 88 RBI. Rizzo is 1 homer shy of becoming the second left-handed hitting Cub to record multiple 30-homer seasons. Billy Williams had five 30-plus homer seasons between 1964-72.

The Pirates' MVP candidate: Center fielder Andrew McCutchen is at .299/.401/.509 with 22 homers and 92 RBI. His 92 RBI are 6 more than his MVP season in 2013 and are 4 shy of his career high of 96, set in 2012.

The ex-Cubs factor: Former Cubs draft pick Josh Harrison had an RBI single in the 11th inning Sunday to lift the Pirates over the Brewers. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez is finishing his career in Pittsburgh, where he began his career before being traded to the Cubs in 2003.

Next for the Cubs: St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field, Friday-Sunday

- Bruce Miles