The clubhouse atmosphere was rarely, if ever, like this during most of Ramirez’s tenure with the Marlins, when he was surrounded by younger players and veterans who lacked stature. But Hairston, 37, Punto, 35 and Schumaker, 33, all played for World Series champions. They might be reserves with the Dodgers, but they’re not cowed by Ramirez, 29 — or, for that matter, any of the team’s stars.
OK, that is the first clue that things are different for Ramirez in Los Angeles. The second comes when I ask Dodgers ace
Clayton Kershaw about the team’s new phenom, right fielder Yasiel Puig, and Kershaw responds by taking up Ramirez’s cause.
Yes, Puig is batting .409 with a major league-best 54 hits since making his major league debut on June 3. But Ramirez, who went 3-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 19 games Monday night in the Dodgers’ 6-1 victory over the Diamondbacks, is batting .419 in the same number of games as Puig and also producing a higher OPS (1.199-1.102).
“Hanley’s even better than (Puig), in my opinion,” Kershaw says. “He’s playing good defense at shortstop. And he’s hitting the ball harder than I’ve seen anyone hit the ball. It’s comparable to Manny (Ramirez) when Manny was here.”
A teammate, unsolicited, making sure that Ramirez receives his just recognition? This, too, is something different.
