Posted on 04/08/2011 1:53:10 PM PDT by raccoonradio
Manny Ramirez has retired from Major League Baseball.
MLB made the announcement on Friday afternoon. The league said it notified Ramirez of an "issue" with him regarding the MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, and rather than undergo the process, Ramirez opted to retire.
Ramirez, 38, got off to a slow start for Tampa Bay this season, going 1-for-17 in five games.
Ramirez, who's made more than $200 million in his career, signed a one-year, $2 million deal with Tampa Bay this offseason.
While the league didn't say explicitly that Ramirez failed another drug test, he would have been subject to a 100-game suspension as a second-time offender. He was suspended in 2009 for 50 games for testing postive for hCG, a female fertility drug typically used to mask steroid use.
"We are obviously surprised and disappointed by this news," the Rays announced on Friday. "We will have no further comment on this matter, and our fans and organization will carry on."
In 19 Major League seasons, Ramirez batted .312 with 555 home runs and 1,831 RBIs. He was a surefire Hall of Famer before that suspension in 2009, and the suspicious circumstances of his retirement will likely add to the case against him.
Ramirez played the most games (1,083) and hit the most homers (274) for Boston, where he spent eight years. He was expected to return to Fenway Park next week with the Rays for just the second time since he was traded away at the 2008 trade deadline.
He won two World Series with the Red Sox, and in 111 postseason games, he owns a .285 batting average to go with 29 home runs and 78 RBIs.
Oh, that’s Manny bein’ Manny......
Mannywould!!
Living proof of the Yogi aphorism that you can’t hit and think at the same time...
Manny sure could hit [and that’s from a lifelong Yankees fan].
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Yanks fan here, too.
Manny is as good a right handed hitter as there has ever been. Didn’t do anything else worth a damn, though.
Hmmmmm, the number 521 comes to mind.
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I always watched him as a Cleveland Indian. I don’t think he’s going to the Hall now.
Gee, and I thought the major baseball drug news story today would be the verdict in the Bobby Bonds trial.
That would be a major news story considering Bobby Bonds is no longer with us.
Pretty sure it is referring to Manny’s career and not Boston club records.
Yup...btw Barry’s dad is name-checked in Terry Cashman’s “Talkin’ Baseball” (”and Bobby Bonds can play for everyone”). So, for that matter, is Reagan: “and the Great Alexander is pitching again in Washington”)
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