CLEVELAND -- Before Jose Ramirez established himself as an everyday player with the Cleveland Indians, he learned that brash behavior around teammates can lead to embarrassing consequences.

During 2015 spring training, Ramirez showed up for work in Goodyear, Arizona, and found his BMW parked on the infield dirt at the shortstop position. Mike Aviles, the veteran behind the prank, conceived it as payback for Ramirez's sloppy, indiscriminate parking in the team lot. But Aviles wasn't the only Cleveland player who watched Ramirez strut around the complex and thought the kid might benefit from a dose of humility.

“It might have been Mike's way to put him in his place a little bit," Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis said. “It's almost like bumpers in bowling. He's going in the right direction. You just want to give him a little help here and there to steer him in the right direction and make sure he doesn't get too far off the path."

Two full seasons after his comeuppance, Ramirez still has the mindset and attitude of a star. But now he's building a portfolio to go with it.

While Ramirez is overshadowed in Cleveland by All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor, he has been just as important to the franchise's first World Series appearance in 19 years. After Michael Brantley went down for the season with a shoulder injury in May, Ramirez helped stabilize the Cleveland batting order in left field. Before the season was through, he started 47 games in left, 91 at third base and three each at shortstop and second base.

Wherever Ramirez played, he hit. He ranked 10th in the American League in on-base percentage (.363), seventh in batting average (.312) and second in doubles (46), and his 4.6 WAR was fourth-best on the Cleveland roster behind Lindor, Corey Kluber and Kipnis. Ramirez's .355 batting average with runners in scoring position was fifth-best in the league.

“He has saved our ass," Indians manager Terry Francona said. “There's no way around it. When Brantley wasn't playing early, you looked at our team and were like, 'Man, how are we going to score runs consistently?'

"Jose stepped into Michael's at-bats. He's hit everywhere in the batting order. He's driven in runs. He's hit with runners in scoring position. He's used the whole field. He hasn't struck out. He's hit for occasional power. The kid has turned himself into an everyday player that can hit the middle of the order at multiple positions."

Ramirez's solid hitting continued in the American League Division Series, where he went 5-for-10 in Cleveland's three-game sweep of Boston. He had a tougher time in the American League Championship Series, going 1-for-17 against Toronto. But if he has proved anything this season, a few bad games won't put a crimp in his self-esteem.

Ramirez's swagger is a sight to behold. He walks with his chest out, seemingly oblivious to the surroundings, with a carriage that teammates say reminds them of sitcom character George Jefferson. Ramirez is all the more conspicuous because of his hairstyle, a fluorescent orange dye job that has a touch of Dennis Rodman to it.

The hair inevitably comes up in Ramirez-related conversation. Francona, who never tires of poking fun at his own bald-headed look, described Ramirez's hair as "atrocious" during the Toronto series. While some Cleveland players agree, others have gradually warmed to it.

“I said at first that it looked like a frayed tennis ball -- one of those really old ones that your dog has chewed up," Kipnis said. “But the more I look at it, the more I like it. It's part of who he is. He's just expressing himself a little bit, and I enjoy it."

Ramirez, a native of the Dominican Republic, wasn't prominent on many teams' radars when he sneaked up on the Indians at a tournament in 2009. Senior director of scouting operations John Mirabelli and Ramon Pena, Cleveland's top Latin American scout, were focused on other players when they kept noticing the 5-foot-9, 165-pound second baseman who found new ways to make an impression every day. Pena kept lobbying for Ramirez until the Indians took the plunge and signed him to a modest $50,000 bonus.

“We saw a cocky, confident style of play, and that's kind of what he needs to be," Mirabelli said. “He's not physically gifted -- 6-foot-4 with big power and speed. He's a good player, with some good attributes. But I think that cocky kind of fearlessness is what's made him a good player.

“He wasn't really a showcase kind of player. But you'd look down and say, 'Ramirez got two or three hits today,' or, 'Ramirez didn't strike out or swing and miss today.' It was one of those deals where he just kind of grew on you."

Ramirez showed enough against veteran competition in Dominican winter ball at age 20 that the Indians felt comfortable pushing him through the system. In 2012, he split time between Mahoning Valley in the New York-Penn League and Lake County in the low-A Midwest League. The following season, the Indians summoned him to the majors as a September call-up.

In this, his breakout year, Ramirez hit .298 against fastballs, .318 against breaking pitches and .342 versus changeups. His bat control and hand-eye coordination are sufficiently advanced that opposing pitchers have no clear way to attack him.

“The big thing for him is just staying aggressive and swinging the bat with conviction," Indians hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo said. “When he gets passive and tries to feel for the ball a little bit, he kind of loses his lower half and slaps at it and loses that good connection with his swing. When he stays aggressive and looks to attack the baseball, that's when his swing stays synced up. He can put a charge into the ball."

Ramirez also can put a charge into an opposing dugout. Late in the 2015 season, he enraged the Minnesota Twins by hitting a home run off Ricky Nolasco, pausing to admire it, then flipping his bat as he passed the Twins' bench. Francona called it a case of “poor judgment," and Ramirez chalked up his transgression to the emotion of the moment.

Inside the Cleveland clubhouse, Ramirez has a knack for keeping his teammates loose and laughing. When the Indians aren't walking around in “Party at Napoli's" T-shirts, they wear red “Yes Way Jose" shirts which picture their third baseman with his hair on fire.

Ramirez's energetic style has made him a favorite with Cleveland fans, who enjoy watching him produce big hits and then rumble around the bases until his batting helmet flies off his head. Ramirez, speaking through Indians Spanish-language interpreter Anna Bolton, said he hears the cheers from the crowd and is grateful for the support.

“I want to thank them," Ramirez said. “They've shown a lot of love and appreciation for me, and I really love and appreciate them as well."

It looks like a relationship with staying power. As long as Jose Ramirez keeps hitting, he'll have the freedom to express his personality in whatever way he chooses.