The Cleveland Guardians’ social media team has retracted a tweet that inaccurately declared their star player, José Ramírez, was regularly pursued by angry gamblers with “machetes and guns” during his youth in the Dominican Republic.
Ramírez has been the face of the franchise, formerly known as the Indians, for all 10 years of his major league career. He is renowned for his composure on the field, and this week, broadcasters Matt Underwood and Rick Manning teased an upcoming feature on the 30-year-old airing on Bally Sports in the Ohio & Great Lakes market.
When discussing the source of Ramírez’s resilience, the Bally Sports announcers revealed that the Dominican native shared a story with journalist Andre Knott about his experience playing in the Dominican Republic as a teen. According to Ramírez, hostile bettors would make their displeasure known to players who did not perform well, with one incident involving a machete-wielding patron.
The Cleveland Guardians’ Twitter account attempted to portray this anecdote, but the post was soon deleted after it was deemed an exaggeration of the original story. Awful Announcing questioned the source of the misconstrued information.
The feature story, titled “Revealed,” will air tomorrow evening after the Guardians’ home opener at Progressive Field. The broadcast will document Ramírez’s inspiring journey from his Dominican roots to the major leagues, and his three goals that he wants the Cleveland community to help him achieve.
