Manny Ramirez burst onto the Major League Baseball scene as one of the most powerful hitters of his generation.
Born on May 30, 1972, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to parents Aristides and Onelcida Ramirez, he grew up with a deep passion for the game.
As a child, Manny was obsessed with baseball, spending countless hours playing in the streets and dreaming of the big leagues.
His family moved to New York City when he was 13, settling in the Washington Heights neighborhood.
There, he attended George Washington High School from 1987 to 1991. He starred on the baseball team but left at age 19 without graduating, eager to chase his professional dreams.
Ramirez’s talent caught the eye of scouts early on. The Cleveland Indians selected him in the first round, 13th overall, in the 1991 MLB draft.
They offered him a $250,000 signing bonus, a solid start for the young outfielder. He made his MLB debut in 1993 and quickly became a key part of the Indians’ lineup.
From 1993 to 2000, Manny helped lead Cleveland to multiple playoff appearances, including World Series runs in 1995 and 1997.
His powerful swing and consistent production earned him a reputation as a clutch performer. Over those years, he hit .313 with 236 home runs and drove in 804 runs.
In 2001, Ramirez signed a massive eight-year, $160 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, marking the beginning of his most iconic chapter.
Paired with David Ortiz, he formed the heart of a fearsome lineup that ended Boston’s 86-year World Series drought in 2004.
Manny’s heroics that postseason, including a .412 batting average, earned him World Series MVP honors.
The Red Sox won again in 2007, with Ramirez contributing key hits throughout. During his Boston tenure from 2001 to mid-2008, he smashed 274 home runs, batted .312, and was selected to eight All-Star games.
Fans loved his quirky personality, often called “Manny being Manny,” from his laid-back style to his occasional fielding mishaps. But his bat was undeniable, helping him rack up nine Silver Slugger awards overall.
Midway through 2008, tensions with the Red Sox led to a trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ramirez revitalized the team, hitting .396 with 17 home runs in just 53 games that season, earning the nickname “Mannywood” from excited LA fans.
He stayed with the Dodgers through 2010, adding another 44 home runs. Brief stints followed with the Chicago White Sox in 2010 and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011.
By the end of his MLB career, Manny had compiled staggering stats: 555 home runs (15th all-time), a .312 batting average, 1,831 RBIs (19th all-time), and 12 All-Star selections. His slugging percentage of .585 ranks ninth in baseball history.
Yet, Manny Ramirez’s Legacy is Forever Tied to Steroids and Performance-Enhancing Drugs (PEDs)
The controversies began surfacing in the early 2000s, during MLB’s steroid era.
In 2003, as part of an anonymous survey testing program, Ramirez was one of 104 players who tested positive for banned substances.
This list wasn’t revealed until 2009, but it cast a shadow over his achievements.
Embed from Getty ImagesThen, in May 2009, while with the Dodgers, MLB suspended him for 50 games after he tested positive for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a women’s fertility drug often used to restart testosterone production after steroid cycles.
Ramirez claimed it was from a prescribed medication for a “personal health issue,” but ESPN reported elevated levels of artificial testosterone, pointing to PED use.
The hits kept coming. In April 2011, with the Rays, Ramirez failed another drug test, facing a 100-game suspension as a second-time offender.
Instead of serving it, he abruptly retired from baseball. Later that year, he expressed interest in returning, and MLB reduced the ban to 50 games after negotiations.
However, he never played another MLB game.
Reports later linked him to the Biogenesis clinic, a Miami-based operation supplying PEDs to players, though his suspensions predated the whole scandal.
Manny has since said he doesn’t regret his PED use, claiming it “made me grow up” and helped him mature.
These violations severely damaged Ramirez’s reputation. Once a surefire Hall of Famer based on numbers alone, his path to Cooperstown has been blocked.
He became eligible in 2017, but voters, wary of the steroid era, have given him low support. In the 2025 Hall of Fame voting, he received just 34.3% of the votes on his ninth ballot—far short of the 75% needed for induction.
With only one year left on the ballot in 2026, his chances look slim. Critics argue his PED use taints his stats, while supporters point to his dominance in an era when many players were suspected
After retiring from MLB, Ramirez didn’t entirely leave baseball. He played in the minors, then overseas in Taiwan in 2013, where he hit .352 in a short stint, and even tried Japan in 2017.
Today, he stays involved in the game through coaching and appearances.
Despite the controversies, Manny Ramirez remains a beloved figure for his joyful approach to baseball and his undeniable talent.
His story is a reminder of how PEDs reshaped the sport, leaving even the greatest players with complicated legacies.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- On May 10, 2004, Ramirez missed a Red Sox game to become a naturalized citizen of the United States.
- Ramirez has three sons: one from a previous relationship, and two with his wife, Juliana.
- He was a nine-time Silver Slugger and was one of 28 players to hit 500 career home runs.
