The phrase "Manny being Manny" was coined to discuss the sometimes offbeat antics of former Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez. However, it could also be used to describe the MLB player's elite skills as a hitter.
Ramirez was a great baseball player in his heyday. He was definitely a personality that stuck out in a sport that can be pretty staid. All of this helped Manny Ramirez rack up a ton of cash, but just how much is he worth in 2021?.
Early Life and Career
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Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where he lived for the first 13 years of his life. At that point, his family moved to the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. There, he excelled at George Washington High School, including the New York City Public School Player of the Year in 1991. This led to the Cleveland Indians selecting Ramirez with the 13th overall pick in the 1991 MLB Draft.
The second Manny became a professional baseball player, it was clear that he had a bright future as a hitter. In 1991, Baseball America named him the Short-Season Player of the Year and then in 1993 named him the Minor League Player of the Year.
When Ramirez made his Major League Baseball debut in September of 1993, he was a player many fans already had an eye on. In his second career game, which happened to come at Yankees Stadium in front of his family, he hit his first two home runs.
In the strike-shortened 1994 season, Ramirez finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. The following year, his first full season, he hit 31 home runs and, for the first time, made the MLB All-Star Game and won a Silver Slugger award.
Manny capped his eight-year run in Cleveland with two seasons that established him as one of the best right-handed hitters in baseball. In 1999 and 2000, he led the American League in slugging percentage and OPS. He also led the majors in RBIs in 1998 with 165, a season when he finished third in MVP voting.
After the 2000 campaign, Ramirez became one of the most sought-after free agents ever. Several teams were vying for his services, but in the end he signed an eight-year deal with the Boston Red Sox for $160 million with option years that made it a 10-year, $200 million contract.
The deal paid off right out of the gate, as he made another All-Star Game and won another Silver Slugger in his first season with the Sox. The following year he posted a .349 batting average to win the only batting title of his career.
Manny finished third in the AL MVP voting again in 2004 after leading the AL with 43 homers. Of course, we were talking about Boston in 2004, so we have to talk about the postseason.
World Series and Late Career
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K90-cuhBIw
Ramirez hit .300 to help the Red Sox overcome a 3-0 deficit to the New York Yankees. He was then named the World Series MVP after crushing the ball against the Cardinals to make the Boston Red Sox World Series champions for the first time since 1918.
Ramirez won his eighth-straight Silver Slugger in 2006, but he would make the All-Star Game in the next two seasons as well. During that 2008 season, though, Ramirez was famously traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he was accepted with open arms. In fact, Manny hit so well for the Dodgers that he finished fourth in the NL MVP voting despite playing in just 53 games with LA (in which he hit a ridiculous .396).
The 2009 MLB season began well for Ramirez. Still, he was then handed a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a banned medication often used as part of a steroid cycle. This was the beginning of the end. The Dodgers waived Ramirez during the 2010 season and he was picked up by the Chicago White Sox.
The following year he would sign with the Tampa Bay Rays, but things quickly got complicated. Ramirez only played in five games before being informed that he was facing a 100-game suspension for another positive test. At the time, he chose to retire instead of sitting out the rest.
Retirement didn't suit Ramirez, apparently. In 2012, he signed with the Oakland Athletics on a minor league deal, but he never made it to the big leagues. The following year he returned to the Dominican and then headed to the Chinese Professional Baseball League to play for the EDA Rhinos. He left China to try again in MLB with the Texas Rangers but couldn't crack the big leagues after a stint in the minors.
Ramirez went to play in Japan for a bit and then signed a deal with the Sydney Blue Sox of the Australian Baseball League but never played for the team due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the moment, 49-year-old Manny technically isn't retired, but he isn't playing anywhere either.
Manny Ramirez Net Worth
Playing baseball in the minors and in China probably wasn't as much about the money as the sport for Ramirez, but it's not like he didn't make a ton of case in MLB.
Ramirez earned more than $230 million in MLB contracts, and the Red Sox will pay him a little over $2 million per year through 2026.
Manny is considered one of the best right-handed hitters in baseball history. He finished his MLB career with a .312 batting average and 555 career home runs. His .996 career OPS is incredible. On the other hand, Ramirez has a reputation as a pretty lousy outfielder. Combine that with the PED suspension, and it seems unlikely Ramirez will end up in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Manny and his wife uliana have two children, Manuelito and Lucas Ramirez, and live in Florida. He also has a son, Manny Ramirez Jr., from a previous relationship. Manny Jr. actually played some independent ball.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Ramirez's estimated net worth is $110 million. He's clearly one of the richest baseball players ever. It paid very well for Manny to be Manny.
