Baseball: Ramirez Still Has Big League Hopes

SPRINGDALE -- Soon after Max Ramirez signed his minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals and joined Northwest Arkansas, he and manager Vance Wilson had a chat.

The 29-year-old slugger was now on his second tour with the Royals organization and Wilson had only one real piece of advice for his older new bat.

"I don't need him as another coach. I really don't need him to mentor players. That's on him if he wants to. His mentoring will come from his action, how he plays. It's very important to me that he knows that. We're trying to get him back to the big leagues," Wilson said.

Ramirez doesn't need to be taught much else. On a team filled with men in their early-to-mid 20s, Ramirez is the grizzled veteran. He knows how to play, how to spend his practice time. He has spent 11 seasons in professional baseball, making the majors in 2008 and 2010 for the Texas Rangers.

Now it's all about making it back.

Ramirez went to spring training with the Cincinnati Reds and played with their triple AAA affiliate Louisville Bats before being released in late May. The Royals, the team for which he played in 2012 and 2013, signed him shortly thereafter and assigned him to the Naturals.

It was a perfect match, really, for his last best chance, Ramirez said. His best season since he was a top-100 prospect in baseball came with the Omaha Storm Chasers in 2012.

"I wasn't playing every day and still hit 17 home runs and 80 RBIs. I thought I was going to get an opportunity to play (in the majors)," Ramirez said. "Sometimes you have to be lucky to get a spot to go to the big leagues. Billy Butler and (Eric) Hosmer was playing there, too. It wasn't disappointing. It just wasn't a good opportunity at the time. I did well and that's what I wanted."

Injuries to his shoulder and his hip have left him somewhat hampered this year as he carries a .250 batting average and .369 slugging percentage. The hip problem landed Ramirez on the seven-day disabled list on Sunday, after missing the last four games.

But he can still take a pitch better than most major leaguers and the ability to drive the ball is still there, too. It's just a matter of putting it together when he's 100 percent, he said.

"When you get older you have to work more. You have to work to be more. You have to work double what you were working when you were 20, 21, 22, 23," Ramirez said.

While he's working, he does take the time to chat with younger players, like fellow Venezuelan Juan Graterol, and show them what it takes to make the big leagues. He's come to enjoy that aspect, in fact.

He has no regrets. He became an American citizen last year thanks in large part to recommendations by Royals and affiliate coaches and brass. His wife works in the medical profession in Galveston, Texas. He homered in the World Baseball Classic against the United States. He spent most of his winters playing baseball in his home country. And he's been in the big leagues twice.

Everything else that comes, Ramirez said, is just a bonus.

"I love baseball. That's my job. That's what I like to do," he said. "I don't feel upset because I'm at Double A. It's where I have to be right now. It's for me to keep working and try to get better and see what happens."

Sports on 07/07/2014

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