Even four years removed from Fenway Park, Manny Ramirez was still making headlines in the middle of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.
News of Ramirez’s sudden retirement broke through the back-and-forth slugfest between the AL East foes like a shattered bat flying into the stands Friday. The NESN broadcast screeched to a halt when the story broke and got even more off track when news that another failed drug test had prompted the then-Tampa Bay Ray to call it quits.
According to reports, Ramirez was informed about his second positive test and, instead of serving another suspension or face disciplinary actions, the 38 year old decided to retire. For Rays fans, this might have come five games too late, after Ramirez was a terrible 1 for 17 with four strikeouts in his short stint with Tampa Bay.
Ramirez had become a shell of his former self in recent years, lacking the scary power that used to rain down on unfortunately-parked cars on Lansdowne Street during his time in Boston.
Ever since testing positive for hCG while with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2009, for which he served a 50 game suspension, Ramirez was on a steep downward slide, eventually signing with Tampa Bay as a DH before the start of the 2011 season. The move was a desperate one by a franchise that just watched its top talents leave for big bucks in better baseball markets.
Ramirez was once one of the most-feared sluggers in the bigs, along with being its most colorful character. His questionable fielding decisions in left, his deranged sense of priorities, and even his impromptu bathroom in the leftfield wall of Fenway were always cast aside as “Manny being Manny” – as if his overwhelming talent was an excuse for acting like a jackass.
However, when you’re hitting 0.59 BA and just got busted a second time for juicing, “Manny being Manny” just doesn’t fly any more. The guy was a great hitter – not ballplayer – putting up a career .312 BA, 1,831 RBIs and 555 home runs in his 18 years in the major leagues.
But when you factor in that a good chunk of those stats could have came while taking PEDs, you have to toss Ramirez into the shark tank with Bonds, Sosa, McGwire and the rest of the steroid era all-stars.
The big question now, that Manny is done being Manny, is how will Ramirez be remembered?
He’s a folk hero in Boston after helping snap the World Series curse in 2004, giving Red Sox Nation its first championship since 1918. And, much like Barry Bonds in San Francisco, he will always be cheered in Beantown while the rest of the country views him as the last big fish in the steroid pond.
How will you view Ramirez: Silly slugger or juiced-up jackass?