José Ramírez golfed a knuckle-curve off his shins for a 348-foot homer in Game 5, turning the ALDS and sparking statue talks. The Cleveland Guardians pulled off a stunning comeback against the Chicago White Sox, erasing a 0-2 deficit to clinch the ALDS, but it was Ramírez’s redemption story that has stolen the spotlight.
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A fractured left hamate bone robbed the Guardians star of his trademark power, leaving him with just two home runs in his final 54 regular-season games. Over 125 games, Ramírez hit 12 homers, 53 RBIs, and a career-low .688 OPS – his worst stats since 2015.
Yet, when the stakes reached their highest in Game 5, he found a way to turn the narrative around. MLB analyst Coach Trev’s bold prediction of a statue for Ramírez beside Jim Thome at Progressive Field suddenly feels like more than just a tribute to a franchise legend.
“I’ve watched this guy for so long now just be who he is. But I saw the beginnings of it, man. When I go back to that time period, there was never a thought in my mind that this dude would be a statue guy, and he will be. Yeah, José Ramírez is going to have a statue next to a literal superhuman in Jim Thome. Right? crazy and happy for him,” Trev said via a Talkin’ Baseball podcast.
Trev envisions Ramírez’s statue in the same Heritage Park area where Thome’s stands, near the spot of his 511-foot 1999 homer. Thome is the all-time career home run leader for the Cleveland franchise (337 HRs out of his career 612 HRs). Per Trev, Ramírez’s 348-footer on Saturday deserves a spot beside Thome.
The defining moment on Saturday came in the fourth inning when Ramírez stepped up with runner Steven Kwan on first base and nobody out against Sean Burke.
Burke attempted to fool the Cleveland superstar with a 78 mph knuckle-curve that broke drastically low and inside, completely out of the strike zone. In a spectacular display of bad-ball hitting, Ramírez adjusted his hands and literally golfed the ball right off his shins.
The pitch, crossing the plate at 0.74 feet above ground, officially registered as the lowest pitch ever hit for a postseason home run since MLB Statcast tracking began in 2008.
The ball traveled 348 feet down the right-field line, barely clearing the wall. The two-run homer gave the Guardians a 2–0 lead, and eventually the only runs scored in Game 5.
“That was a good pitch, and obviously a better swing by Ramírez there,” noted White Sox manager Will Venable. “That’s what he does. He does special things, especially in high-leverage spots in these big moments. That’s what we saw tonight.”
The crowd erupted as the ball cleared the wall, a moment that would define not just the series, but Ramírez’s legacy. The contrast was stark:
0-for-6 with three strikeouts in Games 1–2, then 5-for-12 with two homers in Games 3–5 – right when the team needed him.
The Guardians were left for dead after falling behind 0-2 in the series. Ramírez completely took over, becoming the first player in Cleveland history to hit home runs in consecutive postseason games while facing elimination in both (Games 4 and 5).
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt exclaimed, “It was like, we got our backs against the wall, and he said, ‘All right, I got you.’ That’s what he’s been doing for this franchise, long before I got here. … He is Cleveland. He’s Cleveland baseball.”
Ramírez extended his contract with the franchise in 2022, and then again, in 2026, choosing loyalty over anything else. His priorities have always been clear:
Retire in Cleveland.
Ramírez was the catalyst to cut Chicago’s ALDS lead to 2–1 by going 2-for-4, scoring twice, and driving in two runs in Game 3. His double and triple in five total bases, plus a stolen base, fired up Cleveland’s offense. José’s heroics led them to tie the series in Game 4.
José Ramírez went 2-for-5, scored two runs, and collected 3 RBIs. He shot a fifth-inning home run off of hard-throwing White Sox hurler Jordan Hicks, and was good for five total bases. His OPS through four ALDS games is a whopping 1.056.
The “Jo-sé!, Jo-sé!, Jo-sé!, Jo-sé!” chants at Progressive Field around 9:03 PM ET on Saturday were enough to fire up the star and make it his moment just one minute later.
The Guardians last qualified for the ALCS in 2024, when they lost to the New York Yankees by 4-1. This time, they will face the Tampa Bay Rays, and if they win there too in their quest to end their World Series drought since 1948, Jose Ramírez’s Game 5 hit will remain the clutch and season-defining moment.
Apart from his hitting, Ramírez’s fielding also saved the Guardians from surrendering the ALDS to the White Sox.
In Game 3, the Guardians had a 5-3 lead in the sixth when Ramírez made a phenomenal diving stop on a 95.6 MPH liner from Miguel Vargas. He threw Vargas out from his knees to end the threat, single-handedly preventing Chicago from tying or taking the lead.
Reliever Erik Sabrowski, recording the biggest out of the game by striking out Munetaka Murakami with the bases loaded in the sixth inning of Game 5, had a more direct answer to the statue talks:
“Build the f—ing statue.”
Ramírez first saved the series and then took it home.
“Jose is Jose, we all love him,” Gavin Williams said. “He always has that one moment all the time. We know what he’s going to do.”
If Thome can have his statue for his 11-year contribution with Cleveland, a 13-year veteran José Ramírez deserves the same too, especially after such a turnaround. But the road ahead won’t be smooth.
The Tampa Bay Rays have led the American League all year long, ending with a 98-64 record. They swept the New York Yankees in three games in the ALDS. But even after being the underdogs, Ramírez’s presence definitely boosts the team’s confidence.