White Sox' Ramirez rising star at shortstop
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Already this spring, he's made a 360-degree spin at second base before making a bullet throw to first and completing a double play.
He's also gone into the hole countless times to rob opposing hitters of extra bases.
The start of the regular season is still more than two weeks away, but Alexei Ramirez is home.
"I'm at the position I like most, and that's why I'm having such a good time playing there," Alexei Ramirez said through an interpreter before Saturday's Cactus League loss to the Cubs.
Ramirez has been playing shortstop since he was 8 years old, and he made a name for himself at the position during seven standout seasons with Pinar del Rio in his native Cuba.
But after defecting to the Dominican Republic and then signing a four-year, $4.75 million contract with the White Sox, Ramirez found himself blocked at shortstop by Orlando Cabrera in 2008.
Needless to say, Ramirez made the best of the situation.
"He's just a good athlete," said Sox captain Paul Konerko. "We were hearing last year when he was playing second base that it was his third-best position. And he was pretty good at second. Short, center field and second is his order.
"He's just a good athlete, and above all, he wants to be good. He's hungry to be a great player in this league and you can see that when he works and you can see that when he's on the field that he's hungry. It comes through and you can see it."
Watching Ramirez play shortstop this spring has been quite a sight.
Cabrera was a Gold Glove shortstop who had an off year in his brief stay with the White Sox.
Before that, Juan Uribe was about as good of a shortstop as there was in baseball.
And before that, current manager Ozzie Guillen played the position at a pretty high level. With his own flair, Guillen has already conceded Ramirez is better.
"He's always making jokes on me," Ramirez said. "He's always, 'I was better than you. I was better than you.' I just say, 'OK.' I will try to be as good as him, maybe not better. I don't like to be compared to anyone, but I'm trying to be close to the way Ozzie played."
Guillen was the last Sox shortstop to win a Gold Glove, in 1990. Is Ramirez destined to be the next?
"There are so many good shortstops in the American League, so that's not something I can come out and say," Ramirez said. "But my wife (Mildred) told me one time I should win the Gold Glove. I don't want to put pressure on myself, but I do have it in my mind."
If Ramirez wants to go for the gold, Konerko has a suggestion.
"He's got a big arm; it's plenty strong enough," Konerko said. "He's going to make a lot of highlight plays this year, there's no question about that. I know nothing about playing shortstop, believe me, but to me it looks like the biggest fight for him is knowing when to not throw the ball.
"He can get to a lot of them, but when a guy has a ball beat out, he still might want to use that arm of his. So he'll need to back off sometimes. If it's not there, it's not there."
Besides that, Konerko is looking forward to watching Ramirez play his true position.
"He's well above average in his range and with his arm," Konerko said. "You're going to see some plays made this year; you're going to see him on (ESPN's) 'Web Gems' a lot. That's my call."