  Blue Jays hopeful Randy Ruiz. (Alex Urosevic/QMI Agency) |
DUNEDIN, Fla. — Sometimes, giving is its own gift.
When Toronto Blue Jays hopeful Randy Ruiz found out that shortstop Alex Gonzalez would be joining the team, he knew what he had to do.
Ruiz, who wore No. 3 last season with the Jays, made sure that sweater number was in Gonzalez’s locker when he arrived here this week.
“I’m a rookie in the game and he’s been around a long time,” Ruiz said Saturday. “It’s a respect issue. I’ve been in the minor leagues all my life and I’ve had about a thousand numbers. I don’t think a number is going to make any difference.”
Ruiz’s reward? He’ll wear No. 21, the most revered Latin-American number, made famous by Roberto Clemente. Ruiz was born in the Bronx and of Puerto Rican heritage so the news of his new number was a hit at home.
“My dad loves it,” Ruiz said. “He loved the idea that I’m No. 21 because he was a big Roberto Clemente fan. So we’ll see if some of it will rub off on me.”
Ruiz will need all the good karma he can muster to stick on Toronto’s 25-man roster. At 32 with 10 full seasons in the minors, he is still trying to make his first opening-day major-league lineup.
He was 30 before he got his first chance with the Minnesota Twins as a September callup in 2008.
Last year, he was summoned to the Jays after a Pacific Coast League MVP season at Las Vegas and hit .313 with 10 home runs in 33 games with Toronto.
“Randy is a guy that I believe, given the chance to play and get 300 at-bats, could hit you 20 home runs,” said manager Cito Gaston, who is a big Ruiz fan. “He has hit everywhere he has gone but he’s been unfortunate to be on teams where he just never got a chance.”
The Jays will likely carry 13 position players and 12 pitchers so Ruiz may be asked to back up first base, play DH or serve as a bat off the bench.
“I’ll do whatever they need me to do,” said Ruiz. “I’ll come off the bench, play first base, DH, left field, I don’t care. I just want to be there and when they call me I have to be ready.”
Ruiz arrived in camp after shedding a few extra pounds in the off-season, mainly by being more careful with his diet. As so many ball players do, he has fallen victim to eating meals after games, just before going to bed. This year, he vows he’ll put limits on those late-night dinners.
“When you’re coming out of the game at 10 o’clock, and then you start eating and you go straight to sleep, that’s what kills you,” he said. “I’m trying to prolong my career. I feel like I’ve got another 10 years in me.”
For a guy to hold on to his dream as long as Ruiz has, it takes incredible optimism and persistence. At 32, his tank is still full on both accounts.
“I go out there not to put pressure on myself,” he said. “They make the decisions. If it happens, it happens. If not I’ll go to the minor leagues and do what I do best and force these guys to bring me up.
“I feel like I belong here. It’s taken a long time. I’m enjoying it because I waited so long. Now I have an opportunity, I’m going to do what I can not to let it go.”
ken.fidlin@sunmedia.ca
