Manny No Mas

MANNY RAMIREZ

The baseball career of Manny Ramirez is over. His retirement was announced today by Major League Baseball. In the end, it wasn’t the .059 batting average or the booing by Tampa Bay Rays fans that did Ramirez in. It was drugs.

Following an article by the New York Times which cited two sources as saying Ramirez tested positive for performance enhancing drugs this spring, Manny decided to retire as an active player rather than face a 100 game suspension for getting caught using PEDs for a second time.

Now, despite 555 career homers, a batting average of .312, 12 All-Star appearances and a pair of World Series rings, Ramirez stands virtually no chance of getting into the Hall of Fame.

MANNY BEING YANKEE?

ON THE MOVE AGAIN?

The latest baseball rumor has former Boston Red Sox star Manny Ramirez possibly moving to the Bronx and becoming a member of the New York Yankees.

SIGN OF THINGS TO COME?

Benmaller.com is reporting that the Los Angeles Dodgers have removed the “Mannywood” sign in front of the left field bleachers. The sign is a tribute to former slugging outfielder turned DL regular Manny Ramirez. The sign has been replaced by an ad for John Hancock insurance.

MANNY HITS GAME-WINNING PINCH-HIT HOMER

 

MANNY RAMIREZ

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez beat the San Francisco Giants Sunday with a pinch-hit two run homer.

VIDEO

DODGERS CELEBRATE NLDS VICTORY

MANNY BEING SOGGY

MANNY BEING TOSSED

DODGERS OUTFIELDER MANNY RAMIREZ GETS EJECTED FROM MONDAY’S GAME AGAINST ARIZONA

L.A. DODGERS HONOR DRUG USING OUTFIELDER

 

Los Angeles Dodgers fans LOVE Manny Ramirez. So much so that the club has announced that there will be a second bobblehead night honoring their wacky outfielder. The Dodgers are paying tribute to Ramirez despite the fact that he served a 50-game drug suspension earlier this year. The announcement  also comes just days after it was revealed that Ramirez also tested positive for drugs in 2003.

Take that, Bill Plaschke.

The Dodgers will give away free Manny Ramirez bobbleheads to the first 50,000 fans to their September 16th game against Pittsburgh. Genius move. The Dodgers are now guaranteed to sell out a September game against a minor league “Quitsburgh” opponent. The new-and-improved Manny bobblehead re-creates the pose he struck for Dodgers fans after hitting a pinch-hit grand slam on his ORIGINAL bobblehead night.

RED SO* 2004 TITLE TAINTED

MANNY RAMIREZ AND DAVID ORTIZ

The New York Times is reporting that both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. The pair were the top sluggers on the BostonRed Sox championship teams in 2004 and 2007.

There were reportedly 103 players who had positive drug tests in 2003. Those names were supposedly confidential, however seven players on that list have now been publicly identified including Ramirez, Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Jason Grimsley and David Segui.

MANNY BEING EJECTED

MANNY RAMIREZ IS EJECTED BY HOME-PLATE UMPIRE JOHN HIRSHBECK TUESDAY

For a guy who should be well rested, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez sure gets a lot of time off. Fresh from a 50-game suspension, Ramirez was replaced early in his first two games back for defensive purposes. He was rested by Dodgers manager Joe Torre on Sunday. Monday the Dodgers had the day off, and Tuesday Manny didn’t make it past the fifth inning.

Ramirez was ejected by home-plate umpire John Hirshbeck after tossing his bat and helmet following a called third strike in a game against the Mets. New York fans gave Ramirez a rousing ovation after he was tossed. The same fans had booed him earlier in the game. It was the first New York appearance for Ramirez since returning from his drug suspension.

Ramirez didn’t seem too concerned about leaving the game early, joking “five and fly-just like a ptcher” to reporters after the game. It was the fifth career ejection for Ramirez.

You can see the MLB video of Ramirez getting tossed:  HERE

DRUG-USING MANNY RAMIREZ MORE POPULAR THAN EVER

MANNY RAMIREZ

Outfielder Manny Ramirez returns to the Los Angeles Dodgers today following a 50-game drug suspension. Far from being a pariah for getting caught using performance-enhancing drugs, Manny is arguably more popular today than at any point in his career.

Petco Park in San Diego is sold out for his return. This follows record crowds for Manny’s minor league rehab games. As Jayson Stark of ESPN wrote, Manny-Mania has struck from “Albuquerque to Ensenada.”

Local LA tv, ESPN and even the Major League Baseball Network are all covering Manny’s return gavel to gavel complete with televising every plate appearance of Ramirez’ return. You might argue about the type of message MLB is sending when it sends its own television network of hero-worshipping announcers to cover Manny Ramirez’ return from a drug suspension complete with live-shots and atbat-by-atbat cut-ins.

Prime Ticket has added an extra Manny-Cam for the telecast of tonight’s Dodgers/Padres game. The network has also sold a special “road edition” of their ”Dodgers Live” pregame and postgame shows as well as an additional 30 minute program. The Dodgers have also announced they are re-opening their left field “Mannywood” section.

There were 150 media requests for tonight’s game featuring Manny’s return. One Dodger, second baseman Orlando Hudson, says the hoopla surrounding the return of Ramirez is so huge that he needs to be brought into the stadium by helicopter. He was only half kidding.

The only people who appear to be outraged are local Los Angeles newspaper writers in their 50′s and 60′s-like Bill Plaschke of the LA Times. And, the way things are going, Manny Ramirez is going to be around a lot longer than the Los Angeles Times.