Manny Ramirez has given the baseball world plenty of reason to shake its collective head over the years.
His often unconventional behavior led to the coining of the phrase "Manny being Manny." And he apparently slacked off last summer until he was traded out of Boston, in a deal that involved the Pirates giving up Jason Bay.
Once he arrived in Los Angeles, Ramirez went on a tear, earning him MVP consideration although he spent less than half the season for the Dodgers.
Through it all, Manny seemed to be one of the heavy hitters who escaped being linked to the steroids-banned substance scandal that's pretty much dominated conversation about the sport in the past several years.
The benefit of the doubt for Ramirez, of course, has disappeared with Thursday's announcement that he'd been suspended for 50 games for testing positive for one of those banned substances.
He now joins the likes of Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, Giambi and several of the biggest baseball luminaries of this generation of the persona-non-grata list.
Good luck, future Hall of Fame voters. You're going to need it.
Well, maybe not. I think most of us will be long gone by the time you see any of the above names on Cooperstown plaques.
Read more about Manny's dilemma.
Trivia #16: What two future Hall of Famers were implicated in 1926 for a game-fixing scheme that allegedly occurred in 1919?
Harry beat me to the punch, but I wanted to add my two cents. Manny Being Manny was just a phrase that really meant Manny Being an Idiot. All through his baseball career, Ramirez has done some very odd things and simply had it brushed off like it was just your crazy uncle being your crazy uncle.
ReplyDeleteI never bought it. I always felt Manny was a talented player but a meathead. Now, it appears that he wasn't as talented as one might like to believe. His suspension for using a banned substance makes him look worse than a crazy uncle. It makes him look like a cheater.
Couple this instance with his abandoning his teammates in Boston by jaking an injury to get out of playing, and, suddenly, his career doesn't seem so spectacular.
Oh, unless you want to believe the tired cliches that this was his first time or that he didn't know what he was taking.
That would be Manny Being Stupid, right?
Preach on, Brother Joe!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone really care about steroids anymore? It has inundated the game and become a sideshow for actual baseball. There is not one MLB player who would surprise me if he tested possible. Let Manny Be Manny while he watches TV for the next two months and let's all just move on without another thought about him.
ReplyDeleteMike Jones
Positive... not possible...
ReplyDeleteMike Jones
Hey, he's not on either of my fantasy teams, so that's good!
ReplyDelete