Farewell to the man who came before all others
Alex Ramirez entered 3M college in 2034 and played for their 3M Minors team for two years. The signs of his stardom were there, he went to the College Conference All-Stars All-Star Game in ’34 & ’35, he had a 22-game hit streak in 2034 while he also won the CCAS (COL) MLN Pascal Verhoeve Glove Award at 1B, the CCAS (COL) MLN Platinum Stick Award at 1B and the CCAS (COL) MLN Bo Jordan Batter Award in his rookie college year.
Expansion franchise Wichita Aviators made Alex the first overall pick in 2035, he signed his first pro contract with a $4.5 million bonus. Starting as a 19-yr-old in Double-A, he went on to have two stints in the Florida Prospect League with Palm Bay before completing his minor league career in Albuquerque. His 188 games in AA & AAA saw him hit 26 homers and 92 RBI, score 107 times, walk 73 times and steal 24 bases in 33 attempts. He made his BBA debut in 2037.
In his first season in Wichita he played 160 games hitting .313/.384/.532 with an OPS+ of 136 and a 5.4 WAR. He sent 23 balls over the fences, drove in 106 runs while scoring 102 times. That all led him to him being selected to his first BBA All Star game and winning the BBA JL Joe Gillstrom Newcomer of the Year Award and the BBA JL Charles Puckett Golden Bat Award at SS at the end of 2037. In the next five seasons in Wichita he played in another 723 games for the Aviators and had career BBA totals of 175 homers, 576 RBI while scoring 610 times. He stole 265 bases from 367 attempts. He represented the team in the 2039, 2040, 2041 and 2042 All Star games while collecting the 2039 BBA JL Charles Puckett Golden Bat Award at SS, the 2040 BBA JL Yogi Zimmer Diamond Glove Award at 3B, the 2040 BBA JL Charles Puckett Golden Bat Award at 3B and the 2041 BBA JL Yogi Zimmer Diamond Glove Award at 3B.
He signed his first big deal in 2039, three years for $21.7 million, and had just signed a five-year deal for $72.2 million when he was traded. The fans won’t forget him, the grumblings will always be that Wichita should have asked more for him and in all likelihood he will be the first person inducted into the Wichita Hall of Fame whenever that opens it’s doors.