CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez has joined another exclusive baseball club.
Cleveland's six-time All-Star became the first primary third baseman in history to reach 250 career homers and 250 steals. The 32-year-old reached the milestone on Thursday during the 10th inning of a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Twins.
Ramírez smiled broadly when the public address announcer and scoreboard showed the milestone. He got aboard with an RBI base hit, before stealing second base and scoring the game-winning run on Angel Martinez's single.
Ramírez, who has 260 homers, is the 24th player to accomplish the feat, and the only active one in the majors.
He is also the first Cleveland player reach 250-250 and just the second switch-hitter, joining Carlos Beltrán (435 homers, 312 steals).
Ramírez dazzles his teammates on an almost daily basis, so it's not a surprise to them that he's added his name to another elite list.
"He's a guy that leads by example," catcher Bo Naylor said after Wednesday's game. "He goes out there, plays his hardest, and when you see one of the leaders on your team doing that, there's no excuse for you to not be able to do that. He takes on that role himself and just does such a good job of keeping all of us accountable without making his voice heard in a way.
"He's one of the guys that makes this whole team go and every accomplishment that he's had come along the way, it's been super awesome to be able to witness it one and be able to celebrate it with him afterward."
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