Hall of Fame Polls: Manny Ramirez

Manny Ramirez was a pretty good hitter....a bit of an understatement. Nineteen seasons, a .312/.411/.585 line with 555 home runs, 1831 RBI. bWAR of 69.2.

It is his third time on the ballot. He was on 28.2% of the ballots last year, up from 22.0% the year before

He made 12 All-Star teams, picked up MVP votes 11 times (finished 3rd twice, and in the top 10 9 times), 9 Silver Slugger awards, won the Hank Aaron Award and was World Series MVP in 2004. And he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 1994, after playing in just 91 games.

And, I know it shouldn’t impress me, but he drove in 165, back in 1999, with Cleveland.

He played eight seasons with Cleveland, eight with the Red Sox, three with the Dodgers, and one each with the Rays and White Sox.

Manny played left field (1037 games), right (904), and DH (332). Unfortunately, he was pretty terrible defensively.

He also played 111 playoff games, hitting .285/.394/.554 with 29 home runs. He has two World Series rings.

On the negative side, he was suspended for PEDs twice. Players lose votes for PED use rumours, but they have proof with Manny. For me, it is often a question of if I think the player would have been a Hall of Fame type without the help. Manny is a tough call, but his numbers are pretty terrific. I’m not sure how much to discount them because of the PEDs.

He and Andy Pettitte are an interesting pair. Both used. Manny had the better WAR (69.4 compared to 60.3). Both were playoff heroes (Manny holds the record for most playoff home runs with 29). This is Manny’s sixth time on the ballot. He got 28.2% last year. Pettitte was at 13.7%

Ramirez’s stats are here.