Manny Being Manny in Japan

Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez is still playing baseball at the age of 44 with an independent league team in Japan.

Manny Ramirez hasn’t played in the major leagues since he went 1-for-17 with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t continued to play baseball. In 2012, he played 17 games for the Oakland Athletics’ Triple-A team and 25 games in the Dominican Winter League. In 2013, he played 30 games with the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A team. In 2014, he got into 24 games for the Chicago Cubs’ Triple-A team and another 41 games in the Dominican Winter League.

The guy just loves baseball. He has a checkered history here in the U.S., but you can’t deny that he must really love the game as he continues to look for opportunities to play as he ages into his mid-40s. Most recently, he signed a contract with the Kochi Fighting Dogs of the Japanese Shikoku Island League Plus Independent League.

The Shikoku Island League Plus is a long way from Ramirez’ glory days with the Boston Red Sox. Manny was a key member of the Boston Red Sox team that broke the curse in 2004 with their first World Series title since 1918 and he was instrumental again when the team won another World Series in 2007. In eight seasons with the Red Sox, Manny hit .312/.411/.588 and had many memorable moments.

By contrast, the Shikoku Island League Plus is an independent league in Japan that features just four teams. They generally play games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and teams like to have players from their hometown play for their home teams. Manny’s team, the Kochi Fighting Dogs, has won the league title twice in the 12-year history of the league.

According to this article, Manny is getting plenty of perks to play for Kochi. The team has made practicing optional for Manny. Of course, it seems like most things have always been optional for Manny. He lives his life as if everything he does is optional. The team has also provided an expensive suite for him, especially compared to the other players in the league, along with the use of a Mercedes-Benz. Finally, Manny gets unlimited sushi for as long as he’s on contract. All the sushi you can eat? Is there any doubt where Bartolo Colon will play after his major league career ends?

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Manny says it has been a lifelong dream to play baseball in Japan, which sounds like something someone who is getting unlimited sushi might say. He also would be interested in playing in the Nippon Professional League if a team were interested. More than anything, he just wants to keep playing baseball as long as he can and you can’t knock him for that.