During the festivities of their Cubs Convention, the Chicago Cubs announced Friday that they will be inducting LIDOM veteran and former MLB All-Star Aramis Ramirez to their Hall of Fame this Summer. Ramirez will be accompanied by right-handed pitcher Kerry Wood, who will also be inducted into their Hall of Fame.
Ramirez began his career in LIDOM in 1996 when, at 18, he made his debut for Gigantes del Cibao. That season, he was also signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates and debuted on their MLB team two years later in 1998. He played consistently in LIDOM from 1996 until 2002, playing 113 Winter League games and posting a career of .634 OPS. His best season in LIDOM was in 2000 while playing for Tigres del Licey, where he had 4 HRs and six doubles in 42 games.
Ramirez is remembered by MLB fans for his time with the Cubs from 2003 to 2011. He arrived at the team in 2003 in a trade deadline deal that helped Chicago secure their first divisional title in 14 years. Ramirez would also be instrumental in 2007 and 2008, leading the Cubs to the postseason. Overall, in his career with the Cubs, he played 1,124 games and had a slash line of .294/.356/.531 with an OPS+ of 126. Ramirez provided a sense of consistency for the Cubs at third base that they had not had since the retirement of Hall of Famer Ron Santo. From Santo’s retirement, until Ramirez arrived in Chicago, the Cubs would go through 100 third basemen. From 2003 until 2010, he was second to Adrian Beltre in innings played at third base in all MLB. Ramirez played nine consistent seasons in third base for Chicago, during which he also hit 239 HR, and 806 RBI. He was an MLB All-Star twice, winning the 2008 Hank Aaron Award and 2011 Silver Slugger.
After his career with the Cubs, Ramirez would move up slightly North and finish with the Milwaukee Brewers. During his stint with the Brewers, Ramirez led the league in doubles in 2012 and was voted an All-Star once more in 2014. His four years with the Brewers would see him hit an OPS+ of 120 and a slash line of .284/.342/.473. 2015, he retired from baseball after a brief stint with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team that initially signed him.
Overall, in his MLB career, Ramirez finished with 2,194 games played and a slash line of .283/.341/.492, 386 HR (66th all-time), 1,417 RBI (73rd all-time), 495 doubles (75th all-time), and defensively is 21st in assists all-time with 3,627. For players born in the Dominican Republic who have played in MLB, he ranks 8th in games, 10th in plate appearances (8,986), hits (2,303) and Home Runs, 6th in doubles, and 7th in RBI. Ramirez was inducted into the Dominican Sports Hall of Fame for all his accomplishments in 2020.
