NASHVILLE − Lucas Ramirez, the son of Manny Ramirez, won't play for reigning NCAA champion Tennessee baseball after being selected in the MLB draft. And as you would expect, the 2004 World Series MVP had only good things to say about the Vols.
Lucas Ramirez was drafted in the 17 th round by the Los Angeles Angels. The 6-foot-3 outfielder signed a $150,000 contract with the Angels, which forced him to give up playing for the Vols and coach Tony Vitello after signing with Tennessee in November.
Lucas Ramirez was a star player for American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida. In the 2024 class, Ramirez was ranked No. 300 overall nationally and No. 56 for all outfielders, according to Perfect Game. In the state of Florida, he was ranked No. 45 overall and No. 13 for all outfielders. During his senior season, Ramirez led American Heritage with 28 hits and four home runs and tied for a team-high 22 RBIs.
“(Choosing Tennessee) was easy. We knew that Tennessee was one of the best schools,” Manny Ramirez said at the MLB Home Run Derby X luncheon on Thursday. “They have great coaches involved.”
Father and son traveled to UT during the recruiting process and met the coaching staff. The two were swayed by a Vols football game.
“The campus was crazy. We went to the football game and it was unbelievable,” Manny Ramirez said. “While we were there the coaching staff was awesome. They were human and Vitello was awesome.”
Manny Ramirez, 52, hit 555 home runs in a career than spanned parts of 19 seasons. His 29 postseason home runs is still the most in MLB history. He was also drafted out of high school after his family moved from the Dominican Republic to New York, by Cleveland with the No. 13 overall pick in 1991. He made his major league debut two years later.
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Even though Manny Ramirez didn’t successfully finish high school or play college baseball, he didn’t want his son basing his choices on his life and legacy, but rather to focus on creating one of his own.
“I gave him some advice on my opinion but at the end of the day, I wanted him to make a decision based on what he wanted to do,” Manny Ramirez said.
Lawrence Goss is The Tennessean's sports intern with the Sports Journalism Institute. Contact Lawrence at lgoss@gannett.com. Follow Lawrence on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @iamlgoss
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Manny Ramirez a fan of Tennessee baseball, Tony Vitello although son Lucas signs with Angels
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