Manny Ramirez can still crush home runs at 44 years old
If anyone can put up a fight against Father Time, it’s Manny Ramirez.
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The former Major League Baseball star, who hit 555 home runs over a 19-year career spent mostly with the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox, is still living the baseball dream at 44 years old. And though his journey has now taken him to Japan, where he signed an incentive-filled contract with the Kochi Fighting Dogs, he’s showing he still has the swing that made him rich and famous in MLB.
In fact, he went vintage Manny Ramirez this week, launching an opposite-field homer for his first home run since joining the Japanese league this season.
You can view the beautiful swing at the 46-second mark in the video above.
Sadly, there’s no over-the-top commentary to go with it. But the swing and the results speak for themselves.
There had been rumblings that Ramirez was eyeing a comeback last season. Prior to that he served as a player-coach for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs in 2014, so It was always clear he still had the itch. Playing in Japan is about the best he can hope for now, and he’s clearly relishing the opportunity as the Fighting Dogs designated hitter.
Ramirez last appeared in MLB in 2011, making a brief appearance for the Tampa Bay Rays. He was on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this past winter, but received only 23.8 percent of the vote as writers heavily weighed his two failed drug tests and suspensions in their decisions.
Ramirez will remain on the ballot for 2018, but he’s clearly focused on playing in Japan and proving he can still be a hitting machine.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
