The first thing I thought of when I saw the rumor that Manny Ramirez may return to baseball was Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers’ really routine. As in Manny, Really?
After being caught using performance-enhancing drugs two years in a row and being slapped with a 50-game suspension the first time and a 100-game suspension the second time, the Dominican slugger who starred for the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox for most of his 19 seasons retired in disgrace rather than serve his penalty.
Now Manny being Manny, he wants to come back and may have negotiated a reduction in his prison sentence banning him from the field to only 50 games.
This is quite the scenario. There is no doubt that Ramirez is one of the greatest hitters of his generation and he has definite Hall of Fame numbers on his statistical line, but Ramirez has alienated most of the baseball world and although he may have some pop left in his bat it’s not clear if anyone will want to hire him.
After all, Barry Bonds had to accept forced retirement. When his contract ran out with the Giants, Bonds wanted to play one more year at least, and no one would have him. One milestone that cost him was reaching 2,000 RBIs, a level topped only by Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Cap Anson. Bonds finished with 1,996 because he was facing legal charges surrounding allegations he took steroids. We have yet to see how voters will treat this truly great player when he becomes Hall of Fame-eligible. Nor have many come to terms with how he should be viewed.
Somewhere along the way after leading the majors with a phenomenal 165 RBIs in 1999 and winning a battle title in 2002, Ramirez morphed from being The Man to being Manny. It wasn’t the same. The Man was an awesome hitter, an RBI machine with 1,831 runs knocked in, who hit for power and average. His lifetime totals are 555 homers and .312 average. Manny was a careless fielder who became a clubhouse canker sore whom the Red Sox were not sorry to see go.
Ramirez was a momentary hit with the Dodgers for half a season and he was quickly developing a fan following. But then he let everyone down with his drug violations. Going for a fresh start in Tampa Bay, Ramirez lasted five games in 2011 before Major League Baseball nailed him again. Rather than sit out 100 games he retired. Much to his surprise, the long arm of the law reached to the Dominican and he was banned from Winter League ball, too.
So after stewing about his predicament, or perhaps because some baseball figure he respected talked sense to him, Ramirez rethought his retirement and decided that slinking off into the sunset was not the way to go out.
Now what? If it is accurate that Ramirez’s new agents have talked baseball officials into letting him off with a 50-game suspension, then in theory he could be back in the majors by June.
However, how much money can free agent Ramirez command? Nothing like the $20 mil a year from his heyday. How many teams have a dire enough hitting need to take a chance on him? Can Manny at age 40 hit like Manny of old? (His birthday is May 30.) He has 12 All-Star seasons and 12 seasons with 100 or more RBIs, but he has not driven in 100 in a season since 2008. Will it be worth the humiliation if Ramirez turns into a three-time loser on a fresh team’s watch?
Really, Manny, why should any team take a chance on you? Manny Ramirez comeback. Really?