José Ramírez tied the Cleveland franchise record for career games played. He appeared in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs on April 5, reaching 1,619 games — the same total Terry Turner accumulated across 15 seasons with Cleveland from 1904 through 1918.
Turner's record had stood for approximately 108 years.
"I think among all the records, I feel that's one of the most important because it kind of resembles what I wanted to do with this team," Ramírez said. "My ultimate goal was to be able to play as long as I could here."
Ramírez made his major league debut as a pinch runner on September 1, 2013. He is in his 14th season, all with Cleveland. If he breaks the record, he would become the only active player in MLB leading his franchise in games played.
The number alone does not capture what Ramírez did while accumulating it. Seven All-Star selections. Six Silver Slugger Awards. A career line of 286 home runs and 289 stolen bases — the only player in the franchise's 125-year history to reach 250 in both categories. He did not merely occupy a roster spot for 14 years. He hit.
His only stint on the injured list came in 2019, when surgery for a right hamate fracture cost him roughly a month. He still appeared in 129 games that season. In eight of the past nine full 162-game seasons, Ramírez played at least 150.
"Thank God for keeping me healthy and being able to play like that," Ramírez said.
General manager Mike Chernoff called Ramírez "one of the toughest players" he has seen, someone who competes through difficulty without seeking days off.
When Turner set the record, single-team careers were the norm. The modern game works differently. Free agency, trades, and payroll constraints shorten tenures. Fourteen seasons with one organization, appearing in the lineup nearly every day, constitutes a different kind of achievement now than it did in 1918.
Ramírez can take sole possession of the record with his next appearance. That would be 1,620 games, and 108 years of Turner's name atop the list would end.