CLEVELAND — A portion of historic Clark Field in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood has just gotten a makeover and a new name, with a state-of-the-art turf baseball field now named "José Ramírez Field" after one of the city's favorite athletes.
"It's no longer an empty space anymore, so it gives them a chance to think big and dream big," Cleveland Metropolitan School District Commissioner of Athletics Desiree Powell said of the new space.
With its big scoreboard and giant Guardians logo, this $2.7 million turf is meant for future All-Stars, in this case CMSD's Lincoln-West High School baseball program as well as the Guardians' Nike RBI youth teams. It's a way to keep kids positively engaged in their community, something Ramírez himself has emphasized.
"This is really important to me, especially being on the baseball field since I was 7," Cleveland's third baseman told reporters, through his interpreter. "I think it's really important to keep the kids busy, to keep the kids in mind and in the right direction, and I think it's better for them to learn than to be off in the streets."
It's a field CMSD is proud to use, and it appears other teams are itching to get their innings in here, with the next three seasons of games already planned out for Lincoln-West.
"After school, without this here, kids could get in trouble, kids could have mischief," Powell said. "But now that this is here, there's organized play, there's something to be proud of, there's something to look forward to after school to say, 'Let me go to the baseball field, let me go to the diamond, let me grow up and be like José."
Be like José, or pave their own way to stardom, starting right here in Cleveland.
José Ramírez Field was funded through donations from Ramírez as well as Cleveland Guardians Charities. It's the third youth ballpark the team has funded within the city in recent years, joining Talty Field at the Jim Thome All-Star Complex in the Metroparks' Brookside Reservation along with CC Sabathia Field at Luke Easter Park.
