Manny Ramirez: Told of Drug Issue, Ramirez Shockingly Retires from Baseball

Manny Ramirez made his fair share of mistakes in the outfield and in the media. If only it had stopped there.

He tested positive for steroids in 2003, and, having been informed of an issue in a late March drug test, he has decided to retire from the game he played masterfully over 19 seasons.

ESPN’s sources say that the 38-year-old tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Not wanting to face a prolonged ban, he has hung up his spikes to end a Hall of Fame-worthy career.

Ramirez, who was one of the most dominant hitters in baseball from 1995-2008 with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers, was aptly described as a “big kid” by former Boston teammate and current ESPN analyst Nomar Garciaparra.

He was quirky, to put it mildly, memorable for using the Green Monster’s bathroom between innings and also exiting the famed wall looming over Fenway Park’s left-field with signs that read “Manny being Manny.”

He could poke fun at himself, and he had plenty of chances to. A fun-loving, baggy-uniformed righty with dreadlocks, a muddied helmet, and power seldom seen in baseball history, he was the definition of enigmatic.

He was at times a blooper-reel, but didn’t stop being a highlight-reel. He surprisingly never won an MVP, but did everything else imaginable.

Walking entertainment, Ramirez had 2,574 hits despite not compiling more than 185 in a season. He smacked 555 home-runs, drove in 1,831 runs, held a .312 career batting average, and also tormented pitchers with a .411 on-base percentage.

A 12-time All-Star, he has the 14th most home runs in history and the 18th most RBI. He had 165 RBI in just 147 games with the Cleveland Indians: the most since Jimmie Foxx’s 175 for the 1938 Red Sox.

Think about that. He had 33-plus homers and 102-plus RBI for 11 seasons straight from 1996 to 2006, spanning time with the Indians and Red Sox.

Only Alex Rodriguez, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, and Lou Gehrig had more 100-RBI seasons than his 12. He won an RBI title, a home-run title, a batting title, and led his league in on-base percentage and slugging percentage three times.

He was this good and yet Boston, tired of his antics by 2003, put him on waivers. Every team had the chance to pick him up for free. No one bit. That’s how much of a nuisance he was inside the clubhouse and with the media.

Yet, every team was foolish not to put up with his antics. This was one of the best hitters the game has ever seen out there for the taking.

He went on as a Red Sox, continuing to put up his excellent numbers, but they finally had enough of him by 2008, shipping him off to the Los Angeles Dodgers where he proceeded to bat a ridiculous .396 with an equally unbelievable .489 on-base percentage. It was just Manny being Manny.

Ramirez struck out 1,813 times in his career, but translate to only whiffing 18 percent of the time. He had a tremendous eye at the plate, time and time again taking pitches just off the corner, with patience many of today’s power hitters can only wish to have.

It’s safe to say that he knew what was a strike and what wasn’t. And he pummeled his fair share of both.

He teamed up with David Ortiz, who also tested positive in 2003, to form one of the most dangerous one-two punches since Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Both he and Ortiz did steroids. And, if reports are correct, Manny did them twice.

But he’s not Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, or Juan Gonzalez, all players under the steroid cloud whose careers, from my vantage point, were successful because of steroids.

Ramirez would have been a success without them, which makes these fresh developments and his 2003 mistake very saddening.

Ramirez, who was reunited with former Red Sox teammate Johnny Damon with the Tampa Bay Rays this offseason, may not be elected into the Hall of Fame when his name shows up on the ballot five years from now. And that’s a shame.

The steroid usage is indefensible, but his abilities and statistics still cannot be overlooked.

Sometimes he jogged down the first base line, infuriating his team and his fans. Sometimes he clumsily misplayed fly balls and turned sure-fire singles into doubles with his gaffes.

But he made up for his wandering mind and errors. He played the Green Monster better than anyone I’ve ever seen with one of the more accurate arms, while continuously shooting balls out of Fenway and countless other ballparks.

I can safely say he was one of the best players I have ever seen and will ever see. Despite the steroids that so many took during his era, the steroids that have ended his wondrous career, he is a Hall of Famer.

There is no more Manny Ramirez in the game of baseball, and I am confident in saying there will never be another player quite like him, in more ways than one.

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