KIA Tigers’ Kim Do-young (21) is aiming to become the first Korean player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases. With just 40 stolen bases filled, Kim has 38 homers, and needs to make two more in the remaining three games. I think he can do it, but it is not easy.
In the U.S. Major League Baseball, there is a player who is in the same situation as Kim Do-young. The Cleveland Guardians infielder Jose Ramirez (32) is the main character. Ramirez, who filled 40th base with the same third baseman as Kim Do-young, has 38 homers, which is two shy of 40 to 40. The team has already won the regular season title, and it is the same as having the last three games left.
Ramirez started as the third batter and third baseman in a home game against the Cincinnati Reds at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on the 26th (Korea Standard Time), and led Cleveland to a 5-2 victory with three hits, three RBIs and two runs in four at-bats, including his 38th home run of the season.
His performance was not enough for a single hit in the cycle. Ramirez made his second triple of this season by hitting the right fence in the bottom of the fourth inning, followed by a right line drive double in the bottom of the sixth inning and a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning when the game was tied 2-2.
Although Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers), who set the first 50-50 milestone in the history of baseball in the world, is over 40-40, Ramirez is also enjoying an amazing season. If Ramirez joins the 40-40 season, he will become the seventh player in the history of baseball.
Only six players including Jose Canseco (42 home runs – 40 steals) of the 1988 Oakland Athletics, Barry Bonds (42 home runs – 40 steals) of the 1996 San Francisco Giants, Alex Rodriguez (42 home runs – 46 steals) of the 1998 Seattle Mariners, Alfonso Soriano (46 home runs – 41 steals) of the 2006 Washington Nationals, Ronald Acuña Jr. (41 home runs – 73 steals) of the last year’s Atlanta Braves, and Ohtani (53 home runs – 56 steals) of the year have achieved the 40-40 mark. There could be two 40-40 achievements a year, including Ohtani and Ramirez.
Switch-hitter third baseman Ramirez, who has been playing as a one-club man for 12 years since his debut in Cleveland in 2013, boasts six All-Star and four Silver Slugger experiences. He is a Hotajun with 254 homers and 242 steals in his career, and has played 30 to 30 seasons, including this year, and 20 to 20 also has four seasons. Except for 2020, which was a shortened season of COVID-19, he has recorded 20 to 20 or more for six consecutive seasons.
Ramirez, who signed an extension contract with Cleveland in March 2017 for up to $50 million for 5+2 years, signed an extension contract in April 2022 on a five-year, $124 million condition. Ramirez, who gave up the FA and showed his loyalty to Cleveland through two extension contracts, has been consistent as a strong player without sound. He is batting .279 (171 hits in 614 at-bats), 38 homers, 115 RBIs, 40 steals, and OPS.867 in 156 games this season.
Cleveland (92-67 winning percentage .579), which confirmed its victory in the American League Central on the 22nd, has the last three games of the season left against the Houston Astros at home from the 28th to the 30th. Cleveland is competing with the New York Yankees for the No. 1 seed in the AL postseason, but it is expected to be a three-game series in which Ramirez can aim for a home run comfortably as he has secured a direct position in the division series. It is expected that the pace is good with three home runs in the last five games. 토토사이트
Ramirez will also challenge his second 40-40 record. Soriano was the only player who recorded more than 40 home runs, stolen bases, and doubles in 2006. Soriano had 46 home runs, 41 steals, and 41 doubles in 2006. This year, Otani also has 36 doubles, which makes it difficult for him to reach 40-40 levels. Currently, Ramirez has 38 doubles, and he needs to hit two more to fill 40. He will have to add two homers and two doubles in the remaining three games.
“It’s a goal that I want to achieve both 40-40 and 40-40-40. I have always had that mindset since I left the Dominican Republic, and I want to be a part of the record,” Ramirez said. “One of the things that I like the most about this job is that I get to see Ramirez every night. There’s really no way to pitch to him,” coach Steven Vogt, who led the team to the district championship after joining the team in Cleveland this year, said. “He didn’t change his approach or swing at bat even while he was challenging the record. He shows himself consistently every day.”
