Jose Ramirez has done a lot of remarkable things in a Cleveland uniform over the years. Friday night, he added something that only one other player in franchise history can claim.
Ramirez drove in the go-ahead run with a home run in the sixth inning of Cleveland’s win over the Athletics, and the moment carried far more weight than just extending the lead. The RBI pushed his career total to 1,000, a number that places him in truly rare company within the Guardians organization. He is now the second player in franchise history to reach that mark, trailing only Earl Averill, who finished his Cleveland career with 1,084 RBIs.
“CLEVELAND HISTORY FOR JOSÉ RAMÍREZ. Ramírez hit a home run in the sixth inning vs. the Athletics to become the second player in franchise history to record 1,000 career RBIs,” Yahoo Sports posted.
CLEVELAND HISTORY FOR JOSÉ RAMÍREZ 🪽
Ramírez hit a home run in the sixth inning vs. the Athletics to become the second player in franchise history to record 1,000 career RBIs 👏 pic.twitter.com/7azqlvsbzd
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) September 19, 2026
The homer itself carried its own significance beyond the RBI total. It was the 297th of Ramirez’s career, leaving him just three shy of 300 and tying him with Rickey Henderson for 175th on the all time home run list. It also marked his first homer since August 30 against Kansas City and just his second since returning from a month long absence following surgery on his left hand, a stretch that easily could have slowed down a lesser player.
That context makes the milestone hit even harder. Ramirez has spent much of the past several weeks managing the aftermath of surgery, yet he has continued finding ways to impact games, both at the plate and in the field. He fielded a groundball behind third base later in the same game and made a quick throw across the diamond, a small reminder that his value to this team goes well beyond the box score.
Manager Stephen Vogt has been vocal about what Ramirez means to this organization, pointing to milestones like this one as proof of just how much he has accomplished over a career that is still not close to finished. Ramirez, for his part, has consistently credited his faith and his teammates whenever these moments come up, always steering the conversation back toward winning rather than individual accolades.
For a franchise with as much history as Cleveland, sharing a category with a Hall of Fame caliber player like Earl Averill says plenty about where Ramirez now stands.
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