A Cuban becomes at 44 years and 168 days old in 2026 the oldest player to see action in the World Baseball Classic, surpassing the record held by Roger Clemens, who played in the 2006 tournament at 43 years and 224 days old. A historic achievement for the veteran infielder on the international baseball stage.
During the 2006 WBC he slashed .375/.389/.500/.889 with two doubles, two runs batted in and two runs scored. Last night against Puerto Rico, the Cuban team’s third game of this year’s tournament, playing in the left field and striking out against Edwin Díaz to end the game.
“El Pirineo” as he is called has always been a fan favorite amongst the Cuban faithful. The infielder-outfielder was the first of 2006 Cuban World Baseball Classic squad to decide to play professionally, when he left via a marriage visa to the Dominican Republic in 2007. Later that year he signed a 4-year, 8-million dollar contract with the Chicago White Sox.
Ramírez is one of four players to make the jump directly to the Major Leagues from the Serie Nacional, José Abreu, Yoenis Céspedes and José Contreras are the others. In 2008 the native of Pinar del Rio, Cuba made the Southsiders opening day roster by winning a job straight out of Spring Training.
Ramírez decided to return to the Serie Nacional for the 2024 tournament that commenced in early March of that year. The infielder was listed on the Vegueros de Pinar del Río roster in the preseason giving away his intentions. In his seven prior seasons with the team he hit .332 with 73 longballs and 326 RBIs.
The multi-talented Ramírez was a hit with the ball club that season collecting his first hit on April 2nd of that year and he smashed his first home run off Giants reliever Billy Sadler on May 16th. He set a major league rookie record with four grand slams that season and hit .290 with 21 dingers, while also driving in 77 runs.
He was the eventual runner up for the AL rookie of the year that season. In his career, Ramirez was a two-time silver slugger winner, one-time all-star, and hit .270 during his time on the grand stage. He also had over a thousand hits and 100 homeruns.
Here is the roster for the Cuban team at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (sources: Cuban Baseball Federation):
Catchers (2):
Andrys Pérez (Cocodrilos de Matanzas)
Omar Hernández (Kansas City Royals)
Infielders (7):
Ariel Martínez (Nippon Ham Fighters)
Erisbel Arruebarruena (Elefantes de Cienfuegos)
Alexei Ramírez (Vegueros de Pinar del Río)
Yoan Moncada (Los Angeles Angels)
Yiddi Cappe (Miami Marlins)
Alexander Vargas (Cincinnati Reds)
Malcom Núñez (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Cristhian Rodríguez (Chunichi Dragons)
Outfielders (5):
Yoelkis Guibert (Senadores de Caracas)
Roel Santos (Olmecas de Tabasco)
Alfredo Despaigne (Alazanes de Granma)
Yoel Yanqui (Marineros de Carabobo)
Leonel Moas (Toros de Camagüey)
Pitchers (16):
Livan Moinelo (SoftBank Hawks)
Raidel Martinez (Yomiuri Giants)
Randy Martinez (Chunichi Dragons)
Julio Robaina (Tigres de Quintana Roo)
Yoan Lopez (Algodoneros de Unión Laguna)
Pedro Santos (Free Agent)
Armando Dueñas (Samanes de Aragua)
Emmanuel Chapman (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Denny Larrondo (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Yariel Rodríguez (Toronto Bluejays)
Josimar Cousin (Bravos de León)
Osiel Rodriguez (Bravos de León)
Darien Nunez (Free Agent)
Luis Miguel Romero (Free Agent)
Frank Abel Alvarez (Free Agent)