Manny Retires From Baseball His Own Way

(Originally published 4/15/11 in "The Montclarion")

 

Manny Ramirez, who struggled through one week with the Tampa Bay Rays before retiring after a second failed drug test, will likely see his reputation of being one of the best hitters of the last 20 years tarnished by controversy. 

Manny Ramirez always wanted to do his own thing in his own way. Whether it was climbing the left field wall and high-fiving a fan in the crowd after making the last out in an inning, or his sudden need to use the bathroom through a door in the Green Monster, Manny Ramirez was just being himself. “Manny being Manny,” as the popular saying goes. He may have topped all his other antics with the sudden news that he is going to retire from Major League Baseball at age 38.


The thought that maybe he left the game because he couldn’t keep up any more, his bat speed had slowed down or because he wasn’t the same player without steroids are all reasonable, but the real reason for his retirement was due to a likely 100-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. This is the second time Ramirez has been caught illegally using them and the third time he’s been caught since the steroids issue became public in 2002. Rather than face the inevitable 100-game suspension and lose out on most of his $2 million contract with the Rays, Ramirez decided to call it a career.

Manny Ramirez, who struggled through one week with the Tampa Bay Rays before retiring after a second failed drug test, will likely see his reputation of being one of the best hitters of the last 20 years tarnished by controversy.

Assuming he hasn’t blown all of his money, Ramirez has enough to live a happy retirement doing whatever he chooses. His decision to use steroids again may be arrogant, ignorant, conceited, stupid, or a little of each, but he had nothing to lose. His career was virtually over. He could have tried and padded some of his stats to appease the Hall of Fame voters, but the numbers aren’t going to be the reason he gets in or out. His numbers are amazing, but they’re tainted.

If Ramirez wants to get into the Hall of Fame he, along with all the other cheaters, have to hope that Barry Bonds gets elected. Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez and Ramirez have no chance of getting in if the homerun leader doesn’t get the nod. The League wouldn’t be able to leave Ramirez out while letting the others in, but at the rate the voters are leaning, none of these players are going to make it.

It’s comical that Ramirez thought he could get away with using steroids again. After his last failed drug test and 50-game suspension in 2009, he was bound to get tested more frequently and be under a more watchful eye. Everyone saw the effects and how poorly he played when he was off steroids, but suddenly he was able to find his stroke?

The “Mannywood” that once lived in Los Angeles faded into the desolate stadium that the Rays currently play in known as Tropicana Field. You never know what to expect from Ramirez. I picked him in the last round of my fantasy baseball draft just to see if he could do anything this year and surprise everyone like he routinely does. Instead, he did something we all really shouldn’t have been too surprised about.