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Happy to be back: Fenway Park is my home - Hanley Ramirez

By Allsports.com.gh
Sports News Happy to be back: Fenway Park is my home - Hanley Ramirez
NOV 26, 2014 LISTEN

Ramirez, from the Dominican Republic, has since had stints at the Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers, before landing back at Fenway Park nine years on.

The three-time All-Star will revert to the outfield having previously fielded as a shortstop.

Ramirez said he is delighted to be back in Massachusetts, after playing two games for the Red Sox in '05.

"This is home for me," said Ramirez, who signed an $88million deal spanning four years.

"I'm really happy to be back in Boston, and hopefully, I can finish my career here."

Ramirez's switch to the Dodgers saw him involved in two play-off campaigns in three seasons, and he said his move to the west coast transformed his career.

"Everything changed after I got traded from Florida to LA," he said.

"I was around guys that have been in the game, being men the same time they were being players. Talking to me. Telling me what I was doing wrong.

"After I got there, I learned how to win. Right now, I'm a different player. I'm a different person than I was before in my mid-20s."

Boston general manager Ben Cherington defended their trade of Ramirez in 2005, and said a return was always on the cards for the man who has hit 191 home runs in MLB.

"This is an opportunity for us to, first of all, bring back someone we know very well, who we traded - and at the time it was a very difficult trade to make, though it seemed to work out for everyone," Cherington said.

"But the opportunity to bring Hanley back to Boston is something that's really been in the back of our minds for a long time, and this was the opportunity to do that.

"It's just not often we have a chance to not just bring back someone we know very well, but acquire someone that is truly an elite offensive talent and one of the few elite offensive talents in the game. So we're excited to have him back."

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