Cesar Ramos is a “Dirtbag”, and a proud Dirtbag at that. No, not his moral character, but rather his old college team’s mascot, the Long Beach State Dirtbags. Long Beach State University has a history of cultivating major league talent at the collegiate level. Jason Giambi, Troy Tulowitzki, Evan Longoria, and Jered Weaver are some of the more recognizable players who are products of the Dirtbag way, and all have become stars of their respective major league teams. However, LBSU has produced other players that have also contributed to the success of their major league teams, but would tell you that their biggest goal is finishing college. Cesar Ramos is one of those players.

  Cesar Ramos is a relief pitcher for the local baseball team, the Tampa Bay Rays, and is also a former Dirtbag. Ramos was actually roommates with his current teammate, Evan Longoria, and Troy Tulowitzki during his junior year at LBSU. All three would eventually be first round draft picks by their respective teams. They would all also be drafted before they could finish their college degrees.

  Ramos, however, has every intention of going back to college and completing his degree. He even went back to school the first year after his signing. “I completed a couple of units, but getting closer to my major, my professors weren’t very flexible with baseball…” stated Ramos. “They weren’t having it,” he said with a laugh.

  While at Hillsborough Community College’s 8th annual Black, Brown, and College Bound Summit, Ramos was the speaker during a networking reception for African American and Latin American men. Ramos explained his life story and the struggles and pitfalls that he had endured on his way to college in an attempt to enlighten and encourage minority students to achieve a higher education. Ramos’s parents immigrated to the United States over three decades ago to help ensure a better life for their children.

  Ramos explained how his parents have since become American citizens, but continued to speak Spanish, and enrolled him in a bilingual preschool. Ramos believes this was the beginning of his educational troubles, having only his older sister, Elena, who could help him translate and complete his homework. His struggles with education continued thoughout his high school career and even spilled over into college.

  Ramos emphasized he had to take the SAT seven times before he actually passed with a score that would allow him to attend LBSU. He continued down a course that allowed him to play in and win the World University Championship in 2004 with Team USA, and become a first round draft pick.

  Still, Ramos admitted, “It’s been tough, but that’s a goal that I would like to reach, graduating, not just for myself, but for my parents.”

  Cesar Ramos is a man that admits he is familiar with failure, but what sets him apart from the average person, or even other players, is that he doesn’t wallow in his failures. He learns from them and overcomes them, and that is a lesson that everyone should be a student of in school and in life.