Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach

Manny Ramirez hit his first two major-league home runs on Sept. 3, 1993, at Yankee Stadium.

He was a 21-year-old prospect in the Cleveland Indians’ organization and was a September call-up when he made former Yankees pitchers Melido Perez and Paul Gibson his first two victims on that day in the Bronx, which just happens to be Ramirez’s hometown.

Now, the soon-to-be 36-year-old (May 30) slugger for the Boston Red Sox is just two home runs away from 500. He will soon reach that milestone, and when his career is over his last home run will probably be off some kid who is pitching in a high school game somewhere today.

It’s been an interesting ride for Ramirez during this Hall of Fame-caliber career. Until just recently he has shielded the outside world — at least outside of baseball — from getting to know much about him. But one thing is certain — the man can hit a baseball.

On April 17 of this season, he produced a two-home run game at Yankee Stadium — numbers 494 and 495 — and when asked about it afterward, he pooh-poohed his performance, saying he’s thinking about reaching the 600-homer plateau.

Ramirez is in his last year of his contract with the Red Sox, but the club holds options for 2009 and 2010. He has said he wants to finish his career in Boston, but whether that happens remains to be seen. The one certainty, however, is if he can remain healthy, he’ll continue to hit the ball long and far until he decides to retire his bat.

When that happens he will forever be remembered as one of the most feared hitters in the history of the game.

Some might think he’s already nearing the end. Ramirez certainly doesn’t have that mindset because he still considers himself as that 21-year-old prospect who quickly made his mark in the majors 15 years ago.

He began a new off-season workout regime last winter at the renowned Athletes’ Performance Institute in Arizona. He admitted during spring training that he’ll continue that off-season routine in the future, and couldn’t believe it took him this long to do so.

That’s not to say he never worked out during the off-season, because his work ethic is legendary within the confines of the Red Sox clubhouse. The man is always hitting. He’s always working on his swing, so much so that his hand-eye coordination is revered among fellow ballplayers.

Ramirez entered his season with 490 career home runs, and even though his power numbers were down during the regular season last summer — 20 homers and 88 RBI — Red Sox manager Terry Francona had no doubt Ramirez could still produce.

“Zero [doubts],” Francona said. “He’s one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen, and I think that will continue as long as he wants it to. He’s is great shape. He’s one of the most intelligent hitters you’ll ever see.”

Former Red Sox pitcher Ken Ryan knows that all too well.

Ryan played eight years in the majors — four with Boston and four in Philadelphia — and experienced Ramirez’s hitting intelligence first-hand.

He surrendered two homers to Ramirez during the 1995 season when the slugger was still playing for the Indians. The first one Ramirez hit was a 380-foot shot over the Green Monster on May 19. The second came exactly one month later in Cleveland, when Ramirez crushed a 390-foot opposite-field shot to right-center field at Jacobs Field to give the Indians a 3-2 walk-off victory in the 10th inning.

Ryan recalls both roundtrippers, but the one in Cleveland stands out.

“He fouled off about five or six pitches,” said Ryan. “He fought off every pitch and I kept throwing him away until he finally hit that ball to right-center field. It was just a battle. I remember thinking ‘I’m not going to give in.’ I should have gave in. I thought I was Superman, but I quickly realized who Superman really was.”

At the time, Ryan was in his fourth season with the Red Sox and he remembers there was a lot of talk about this young kid with the Indians, who was from the Bronx and had a lot of power. In fact, Ryan recently found a tape of him pitching during a spring training game where he struck out Ramirez on three straight pitches in 1993.

“With the way he approaches an at-bat now, there’s no way any pitcher could do that today,” said Ryan. “Nobody in baseball has better strike-zone recognition than Manny. As soon as the ball leaves a pitcher’s hand he knows if it’s a ball or strike. He doesn’t get fooled. He’s the smartest, most disciplined hitter I have ever seen.”

Ryan, a Seekonk native, owns and runs a baseball academy in Pawtucket and uses Ramirez as an example to his students all the time. Ryan will tell the young hitters to watch Ramirez when — actually if — he strikes out during a game. When it does happen, he’ll calmly walk back to the dugout with a mental picture in his mind because he knows he’ll see that strikeout pitch again in that game, and that’s a battle Ramirez will win.

Ramirez has had many epic battles with opposing pitchers. When the Red Sox slugger wins an at-bat he sometimes likes to enjoy the moment, which some pitchers take exception to.

There was one incident on May 4, 2004, in Cleveland when Ramirez crushed a solo homer off Indians starter Jason Davis in the sixth inning at Jacobs Field. Ramirez drove a 3-1 offering and deposited it into the left-field seats, some 459 feet from home plate. Ramirez admired his prowess for a few seconds before he began his jog around the bases.

Davis wasn’t happy and felt Ramirez was showing him up or “pimping.”

The two had words as Ramirez graciously worked his way around the diamond. After the game Davis didn’t want to talk about the situation, while Ramirez’s teammates said he has earned the right to react in that manner.

That homer in Cleveland was Ramirez’s 353rd.

A similar situation took place during the American League Division Series last October at Fenway Park. It was Game Two against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim when he launched a three-run, walk-off homer to give Boston a 6-3 victory. As soon as the ball exploded off his bat and sailed over the Green Monster seats, he stood at home plate with both arms raised in a triumphant stance as Angels’ closer Frankie Rodriguez looked on.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself,” Ramirez said after the game. “He’s one of the greatest closers in the game, and I’m one of the best hitters in the game.”

He followed that statement with one of his all-time best lines: “I’m a bad man.”

Ramirez is just two swings away from 500 career home runs. Once he accomplishes that, only Manny knows how far he’ll go.

jmcdonal@projo.com