Bye Bye Manny

19 seasons, 12 All-star appearances, 9 Silver Slugger awards, and 2 World Series (MVP in 2004), that is one hell of a career to end.  Manny Ramirez was one of the best designated hitters (DH) to play the game.

As the baseball world sees his career end on a bad note of suspension in view, Manny decides to retire and not come back.  He already served a 50 game suspension with the LA Dodgers back in 2009 and does not want to deal with it anymore.  The prolific hitter had stints with 5 MLB clubs.  The most memorable team he played for would have to be the Boston Red Sox.  The Red Sox had been under the curse of the great Bambino until the year 2004 when the Boston Red Sox broke the curse by winning the Yankees 7 games after falling behind 3 games to known early. The offensive power of Manny helped the Red Sox overcome the Yankees and win the World Series, and he was named the MVP of the series.

Yes Manny is leaving as the only player to be caught twice using performance enhancing drugs, but he will be forever remembered as one of the best players in the game.

Many will question whether or not Manny is worthy of being elected in to the Hall of Fame after all that has happened lately.  I believe it will happen, but it will take many years for that to come forth.  The election committee is going to need time to get over the fact that he did what he did and give him that honor as a Hall of Fame player.

He was a great teammate in every club house, and will be greatly missed.  As a teammate he was a friend and loved playing the game.  The hard work he put into the game wasn't visible to the public because we all saw him as a big kid, but many of his teammates saw the side of him as a hard worker.

He worked hard to perfect his swing and worked hard to become a better defensive player all the time and it will be tough to see this great hitter go down on such a sour note.  The game is always changing with players coming and going, but some players have a bigger impact in the league and replacing them is one hard job.

I will remember Manny for his hard work ethic, child like antics, and great swing as I hope he enters the Hall of Fame in the years a head.