The Cleveland Guardians’ social media team deleted a post where it talked about José Ramírez being chased by armed bettors in his youth. As it turns out, the Dominican athlete did indeed experience something similar in his youth but the remark and its phrasing were rather inappropriate on top of being exaggerated.
The now-deleted post stated that Ramírez used to play in a gambling league when he was thirteen. The young player, now known for his calm and unfazed demeanor, was forced to work hard to earn some money for his family.
Unfortunately, the post claimed, certain situations would infuriate bettors, which would, in turn, chase Ramírez home with machetes and guns.
In certain circumstances, bettors would gamble on a player to have a positive outcome. If they didn’t come through, they would be chased home by gamblers with machetes and guns.
Deleted Cleveland Guardians tweet
The Team Eventually Deleted the Post
The Cleveland Guardians’ post was both exaggerated and inappropriate. It stems from an interview between the Dominican player and the Bally Sports journalist Andre Knott where Ramírez spoke about his youth.
The player said that Dominican bettors would often put pressure on the players. He noted that many people in the audience would scream threats to hurt players if they do not perform well. For example, when Ramírez was only thirteen, one bettor on the stands took out a machete.
While he didn’t “chase the players home,” the fan allegedly tried to intimidate the athletes.
The story shared by the Cleveland Guardians seems to have been very exaggerated in order to attract more attention from fans. It seems like the social media team eventually realized how crass this exaggeration was because it ended up deleting the post.
The Pressure Built Ramírez’ Character
Luckily, Ramírez is now one of MLB’s top guns and doesn’t have to worry about the alleged bettors with guns and machetes. The athlete plays third base for the Cleveland Guardians and has been selected to the All-Star game four times.
Many love Ramírez for being much calmer than other players. The Dominican always seems prepared to make plays that go down in history. Ramírez attributes his calm nature to the pressure he had to deal with when playing in the Dominican Republic. While the player never said that he was “chased home by armed bettors,” he still felt serious pressure from bettors, which helped him build his character.