Is Manny Ramirez Making a Comeback?
One of the most electrifying men to ever put on a baseball uniform may be coming back. That’s right folks, Manny Ramirez is reportedly pursuing a comeback in Taiwanese baseball.
Manny Ramirez told the Taiwan Times he seeks to play this year in the Taiwan League. Played there in 2013 after “retiring” in 2011. Misses being in the batters box. Turns 48 next month.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) April 29, 2020
Talk about awesome. Ramirez is turning 48 (!) next month and still wants to get in the box to barrel up some baseballs.
As Jon Heyman mentioned, Ramirez did play in Taiwan back in 2013. He played 49 games with, “The Rhinos”, hitting .352 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs. That was nearly seven years ago, but holy crap Manny could still rake, and I don’t know if that has changed at all.
Now obviously Ramirez isn’t going to be hitting .400 if he does complete this comeback, but there is no doubt in my mind he would be a productive player. You can bring up the steroid issue all you want, but at the end of the day, Ramirez was one of the best right-handed hitters I have ever seen on a baseball diamond. I mean, look at this MOONSHOT he hit in Toronto: Manny was an all-around monster.
June 3, 2001 Red Sox LF Manny Ramirez launches a 491 ft Home Run off of Blue Jays Pitcher Chris Carpenter, at The Skydome in Toronto #RedSox #MLB pic.twitter.com/5OSmXHKkTF
— GSH (@gman416) April 28, 2020
But in all honesty, the reason I love this so much is because Ramirez actually wants to comeback. Does he need to be playing baseball? No, but he loves the game. That was probably one of the reasons I found him so entertaining growing up.
Even if Ramirez was acting goofy “being Manny”, he gave it his all every time he dug his foot into the dirt of the batters box. Not many MLB players have that same energy, and Ramirez is still trying to do that despite being less than 20 years out from receiving medicare. So shoutout to Manny Ramirez, and hopefully a team from Taiwan takes a chance on one of Boston’s most prolific postseason heroes.
Manny Ramirez with an absolute rocket 🚀 into the #Boston night #RedSox #RedSoxNation pic.twitter.com/EAP6pXYZNu
— Red Sox Podcast to be Named Later (@RedSoxPod_BSS) April 23, 2020
– Jarrod Ribaudo (@Jribs53)