It was just a matter of time before Manny Ramirez went all (to steal a phrase from EVERY other story written today) “Manny Being Manny” on the Tampa Bay Rays, right?
Well, today is/was that day. Circle it on your calendars, folks…the once future Hall of Famer is done.
This from MLB.com:
Manny Ramirez is retiring as a player, Major League Baseball announced in a statement issued Friday afternoon.
The statement said Ramirez had “an issue” under MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program and informed the league he is hanging it up rather than “continue with the process under the program.”
The statement, in full, reads as follows: “Major League Baseball recently notified Manny Ramirez of an issue under Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment program. Rather than continue with the process under the program, Ramirez has informed MLB that he is retiring as an active player. If Ramirez seeks reinstatement in the future, the process under the drug program will be completed. MLB will not have any further comment on this matter.”
And if what Michael Schmidt of the New York Times says is true…the 38-year-old tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in Spring Training.
Oops.
Ramirez inked a deal this past off season with the Rays and was (along with the rest of the team) struggling to get it going starting the season 1-for-17. He finishes his 19-year career with 555 home runs, 1,831 RBI and a .312 average.
In 2009, Ramirez was suspended 50 games by MLB for violating the league’s drug policy. If this most recent issue was indeed a drug violation, he would be facing a suspension of 100 games.
BUT…something tells me we might never know.
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