For nearly every player on the Cleveland Guardians and Kansas City Royals, Monday's contest is just one game of many, no more significant than any of the other 162 games they will play this season. But for Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez, Monday's game is the culmination of fourteen years of dedication to the city of Cleveland.
When Guardians starter Tanner Bibee throws the first pitch of the game, Ramirez will become the club's all-time leader in games played with 1,620, breaking his current tie with Terry Turner, who was born in 1881.
Fittingly, the game is in Cleveland. While Ramirez ranks near the top of many all-time Guardians statistics, the Dominican Republic native said that "[this] one is the most important", recalling his ultimate goal, which was "to be able to play as long as I could here."
Even with fourteen seasons under his belt, Ramirez is still just 33 years old and remains under contract through the 2032 season, meaning that his franchise record for games played will only continue to grow. When it's all said and done, Ramirez's record for games played is unlikely to ever be touched.
In fact, everyone else in the top five for games played with Cleveland was born before 1921. Across the majority of major league baseball's history, free agency did not exist as it does today. For the most part, players were bound to their teams indefinitely, only changing teams if they were traded or released. As a result, many of the older franchises' all-time games played leaders come from the early 1900s, when players had little ability to move from team to team.
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In today's game, Ramirez is an anomaly; the future Hall of Fame third baseman has never hit free agency, opting instead to sign extension after extension with the Guardians at a below-market value simply because it was home. After Monday's game, Ramirez will become the only active player in the major leagues to lead a franchise in games played (h/t Zack Meisel, The Athletic).
With seven more seasons under contract, Ramirez is sure to set more all-time records for the Guardians in coming years. Currently, he ranks second in home runs, trailing Jim Thome by 51 four-baggers, and he ranks second in runs batted in, trailing Earl Averill by 134 (h/t Sarah Langs, MLB.com).
On a franchise with 125 years of history, Ramirez, who is listed at 5'8, will most likely go down as the greatest player to ever play for the Cleveland Guardians. Monday's record is just another step towards solidifying that status.
