Manny Ramirez: Top Five Dead or Alive

When people talk about Manny Ramirez the conversation usually starts off with an anecdote about his bizarre behavior. The essence of who he is as a player has been overshadowed by these zany actions. He doesn’t make it easy, but if you can sift past his shaky glove and silly (to put it mildly) antics, you will find one of the top five right handed sluggers of all-time.

Coming into the season he was one of the elite members of the .300/.400/.600 club. Membership to this group has been excluded to the following right handed hitters: Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Albert Pujols and Manny (up until this year). Pujols has only been around seven years, so I think I’ll wait a few more before I make the claim that he is, ahem, the greatest of all time.

It’s hard to define greatness when a player is still active because they do things to distort our perception of them on a daily basis. Whether it’s an extended hitless streak or an injury-riddled season, we can easily find a reason to discredit their accomplishments.  Ramirez is coming off the worst season of his career, and in fact, it was bad enough to get his membership to the club revoked as his slugging percentage dipped to .593. It happens though. He’s 35-years-old, and if he decides to play until 40 while experiencing the slow, natural, decline that everyone (not named Bonds) does, I fully expect him to go down as one of the greatest hitters ever. Regardless of which side they hit from.

Presently Ramirez has been passed by Pujols and Alex Rodriguez, but at this point he’s had a better career. Rodriguez is certain to by-pass everything he has done within the next few years, he’ll likely obliterate everything everyone has done, but speaking in terms of career, Manny has the upper-hand. Just to put things in perspective, the .300/.400/.600 club is so exclusive that A-Rod has never had two consecutive seasons that would qualify, while Ramirez spent the better part of a decade on the career list. Rodriguez has 28 more homeruns, but 100 less RBI. At this point these players are basically neck-and-neck, but if Rodriguez has been considered the best offensive player alive for the last decade (outside of Bonds), what’s that make Manny?

How about the most under appreciated player in the game? Manny has finished in the top-ten in MVP voting eight straight times- something Rodriguez, Joe DiMaggio*, Ted Williams, and Barry Bonds never accomplished. Yet, he’s never won the award. He’s also racked up a league title in each of the Triple Crown categories, a claim Willie Mays, Stan Musial, and Pujols can’t make.  Vladamir Guerrero, who many consider his superior, has never won a title in any category.

All these players have something in common: they care about the other facets of the game.  If Ramirez had it his way he would DH for the rest of his career. He’s a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, but his stick should place him in a class with Williams, Mays, and DiMaggio. Instead he’s looked at as some kind of sideshow. It doesn’t help that he joins in during the wave and disappears into the Green Monster on a regular basis, but his numbers are undeniable.  Or at least they should be.

The Red Sox don’t even appreciate what he’s done. They tried to give him away during the 2003 season, but failed. Yes, this is the same season that he hit .325/.427/.587, with 37 homers and 104 RBI. One of the best hitters alive up for grabs and no one wanted him.  They weren’t trying to teach him a lesson. He was placed on irrevocable waivers, meaning anyone could have had him. Could you imagine everyone in the league passing on Rodriguez or Pujols? That’s like everyone picking sides at the sandlot and passing on Manny because he’s weird.  Who cares! 

*DiMaggio had finished in the top ten seven straight times before being sent off to war in 1942