Even in a sport as team-oriented as baseball, teams still tend to take on the identity of their best player. The Cleveland Guardians have certainly been taking after Jose Ramirez, who is arguably playing his best baseball in the 2026 MLB postseason. A cursory look at the box score in their 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the ALCS would already show that he had a great game, recording three hits in five at-bats, driving in two runs while scoring two runs himself.

But his impact goes beyond the box score. He is exerting so much effort into every play he's involved in, and that could not have been more apparent than in the top of the ninth inning, when he wreaked havoc on the basepaths. And retired slugger Joey Votto could not have been more impressed with the joy Ramirez plays the game with.

“The chaos and joy that Jose Ramirez plays with deserve study,” Votto wrote on his official account on X.

In the ninth, Ramirez drove in one run with an opposite-field hit to make it a 5-3 ballgame; with the Rays throwing the ball towards home, he strayed a bit too far from the first-base bag. Nonetheless, the Guardians star was called safe.

After a walk from Chase DeLauter moved him 90 feet, he attempted to steal third on a 1-2 pitch, forcing Junior Caminero to cover the third-base bag. This opened up a gap for Jo Adell to poke through on the Rays infield, and Cleveland scored two runs as a result to put the game out of reach.

Jose Ramirez is working miracles right now

Steals third, Caminero vacates his position to cover the bag, Adell rips a 2-run double right where Caminero was standing pre pitch

Cleveland is ROLLING right now#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/RZq8zJdSxG

— Coast to Coast Baseball (@C2Cbsbl) October 13, 2026

Before Ramirez crossed the plate, he had this huge smile plastered on his face, which encapsulates the Cinderella nature of this Guardians postseason run.

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The Guardians were one loss away from seeing their season come to an end. Now, they only need to win three more games to make it to the World Series, which would then give Ramirez an opportunity for redemption after losing in the Fall Classic 10 years ago.