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Manny Ramirez
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Born to Aristides and Onelcida Ramirez, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Manuel Aristides (Manny) Ramirez traveled a long road to become one of the best hitters in Major League Baseball.
During the 70s, football, hockey and soccer were hardly known in the Dominican Republic, and there weren't many basketball courts. Consequently, like most children who attended school in the afternoon, Manny grew up playing baseball every morning and evening with friends. "I don't remember much about those times, but I do remember that my mom would get upset, because I never came home in time to eat at the table with the rest of the family. I was always at the field playing" (Manny). Baseball had taken a hold of Manny. Thus, in addition to playing he would watch the Winter League games to focus on what exceptional players did to win. Pedro Guerrero, Tony Fernandez, Julio Franco, Tony Peña, Alfredo Griffin, Juan Samuel and George Bell were among his idols. During these years, Manny also learned about the Dodgers, the Blue Jays, the Phillies, the Pirates and of course, the Yankees. Manny was changing. He was growing, but his understanding and his love for this game was growing too. For him, baseball was more than a game to have fun. It became a serious affair. Nevertheless, from the age of 5 to 12, his routine didn't change much - to the field in the morning, to school in the afternoon and back to the field in the evening.Then, at 13 years old his life headed in a new direction.
In 1985, Manny and his three sisters moved to New York City, where his mom and dad had been living since 1983. The family was living in the upper west side of Manhattan, in Washington Heights, which was mainly populated by Dominican immigrants. Manny's first few days in New York were very difficult. He had no friends and didn't know where the baseball fields were. Within a couple of days, his dad took him to the field on 170th street and Amsterdam Ave., and that's all it took for Manny to get back into the baseball arena.
Manny began to play with his new friends almost everyday, and noticed he could hit the ball out of the park on a regular basis. His teammates also saw his natural power and invited Manny to Brooklyn's Prospect Park, Van Courtland Park in the Bronx and Manhattan's Central Park to play every weekend. This became Manny's new routine, until he entered high school.
At age 14, Manny began attending George Washington High School, where he focused on more seriously refining his natural hitting skills.
High school was complicated for me. I passed my classes, but I never felt relaxed in class... I had just come to New York, to a different culture, and I was trying to fit in. Also, I was trying to learn to speak a different language... I always like to do things correctly, and it was difficult learning correct English, so I lost interest. This got me even deeper into baseball... When I played, I felt good about myself, because I could do my best. I could work hard and help our team to win. Manny
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