Is Guardians 3B Jose Ramirez the Most Overlooked Star in Baseball?

After Jose Ramirez's latest big swing, Rich fired off a question to his baseball group chat: is Ramirez the greatest 5-foot-9 player in any sport ever?

Sarah wrote back, "What about soccer?" Rich looked up Lionel Messi, found he is listed at 5-foot-7, and conceded the point. "That's the end of that." The revised claim became 5-foot-9 and under, and the larger point survived intact. Ramirez is 34 and, as Rich put it, "as good as he's ever been."

The room went further. Ramirez was called "the best player in Major League Baseball that no one knows about, talks about, pays any attention to." Rich agreed. "Jose Ramirez is, you're right, the best baseball player no one talks about," he said. "He's unreal."

That opened a bigger debate for the Cleveland listeners: does Ramirez belong among the five greatest Cleveland athletes ever? Jim Brown went first and LeBron James second, with room to flip them. After that, the names started flying, from Bernie Kosar to Mark Price to Albert Belle.

The case for Ramirez is built on moments like Thursday night. His two-run shot put Cleveland ahead, and when the game swung back, a six-run sixth inning put it out of reach. "Dude, he's so clutch," came the reaction in the studio. There were still a couple of white-knuckle moments in the ninth, and having to bring in Gavin Williams to close it out was not ideal for Cleveland.

It all sets up a Game 5 in Cleveland. Rich pointed out that the road team has won all four games of the series, so anything can happen. He also had a note for White Sox fans on the South Side: 1906 was the last time Chicago closed out a playoff series at home, and that drought will hold either way, since the deciding game is in Cleveland. Whoever advances, Rich thinks the Rays would have the edge over both teams.

The height conversation did not stop there. Rich admitted the "where does the power come from" question about such a small guy might sound disrespectful, and the room assured him it only becomes disrespectful when it's about Jose Altuve, who was pegged at 5-foot-6. Rich then ran through a list of great athletes at 5-foot-9: Ben Hogan, Joe Morgan, Tyrann Mathieu, Wes Welker, Steve Smith Sr. and Calvin Murphy. The mention of Smith ended that line of conversation immediately. "I'm going to stop talking about height if Steve Smith Sr. is involved," came the response. "I don't want any piece of that."

The bottom line was simple. At 5-foot-9, Ramirez has the Guardians one game away from the ALCS, the same spot the White Sox are in.