20 years later, 44-year old Ramirez leading Cuba once again in Classic

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Twenty years ago, Team Cuba beat Team Puerto Rico at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to advance to the first World Baseball Classic championship round in San Diego. There, they beat the Dominican Republic in the semifinals before falling to Japan in the final. It was the best finish Cuba has ever had in the Classic.

A 24-year-old Alexei Ramirez played on that team and still remembers “everything,” he said Tuesday before Cuba’s 4-0 exhibition loss to the Royals at Surprise Stadium.

Now 44 years old, 10 years after his Major League career ended, Ramirez is still playing -- and trying to help Team Cuba back to that spot in this year’s tournament.

“We’re very happy, really excited to play, and we are all very united,” Ramirez said in Spanish on Tuesday. “We are having fun playing ball. I am trying to give the guys encouragement, and for them to enjoy the game.”

Ramirez did not play in the exhibition game on Tuesday as manager Germán Mesa tries to figure out the best starting nine to field before his team begins pool play in Puerto Rico on Friday against Panama. But at 44 years old, Ramirez would be the oldest player to appear in a World Baseball Classic game, surpassing Roger Clemens, who was 43 years and 224 days old in 2006.

Ramirez played parts of nine seasons in the Major Leagues, mostly for the White Sox (1,226 games) but also for the Padres (128 games) and Rays (17 games). He helped record the final out of Mark Buehrle’s perfect game in 2009.

In 1,371 career games, Ramirez posted a .270/.307/.392 slash line with 115 home runs. But Ramirez was not content when his Major League career ended; he kept playing, first in Mexico and most recently in the Cuban National Series for Vegueros de Pinar del Río.

Because of Ramirez’s age, Major League career and extensive playing career in Cuba, he’s been a source of wisdom and advice for the younger players on Cuba’s roster. He embraces that and said the young players have asked him for advice.

“Alexei is a very important pillar for the team,” Mesa said in Spanish. “He brings us a spirit of fortitude, experience and desire. He has a spirit of accumulated youth, and he can help this team a lot. Not only as a player, but he can guide us in a direction with his experience. Inside the team, even though he is not a starter, he is going to be a pillar; he is going to be a driving force on the roster.”

The rest of the Cuban roster is a mix of veteran experience and young talent. The only Major Leaguers on the team are Yoán Moncada, who has played parts of 10 seasons in the big leagues with the Red Sox, White Sox and Angels, and righty Yariel Rodríguez, who has pitched the last two years for the Blue Jays.

Other players currently in MLB organizations include right-handers Emmanuel Chapman (Pirates Double-A), shortstop Yiddi Cappe (Marlins Double-A), infielder Alexander Vargas (Reds High-A) and catcher Omar Hernandez (Royals Triple-A).

Lefty Livan Moinelo currently pitches for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Japan and is one of the top pitchers in the Japan Pacific League. Also on the roster is outfielder Alfredo Despaigne, who has played in five WBC tournaments for Cuba and won Pool A MVP back in 2013. He hit 184 home runs across 10 seasons in Japan from 2014-23.

“It is a great motivation, one that is similar to 2006, to the first World Baseball Classic,” Mesa said. “The difference is that there is a mix of youth and experience. It is like the story of the musketeers: All for one and one for all. That is the attitude of these players at this moment, and that is the one I am trying to ingrain in them. Here, the most important player we have now is named Cuba.”

It’s clear that 2006 is on the entire team’s mind as it heads into pool play this week.

For Ramirez, the memories of that experience are never too far. That’s part of the reason he keeps playing.

“I love the game,” Ramirez said. “… It is the same baseball, four bases, an umpire, a catcher. But I know that guys have improved a lot in that sense and most of them are professional baseball players. Whether in the Minors, Triple-A, they have great careers. I hope they have fun like I have always said and enjoy the game.”