Manny Ramirez, one of the most productive and polarizing players of the last two decades, is on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year. He's appeared on 34 percent of the public ballots, according to Ryan Thibodaux's tracker.
Manny's playing career may not be over just yet, however. His wife Juliana told TMZ that Ramirez is "training extremely hard" and could attempt a comeback next year. From TMZ:
"He is training extremely hard," Juliana says. "Batting, CrossFit, Orange Theory. He never stops."
Juliana says no official decision has been made yet about Manny's future ... but it's clear where she stands.
"I told him, 'Go for it!' Baseball is the love of his life other than his family and I totally support him 100% ... 'cause I know how much it means for him."
Here's some video of Manny taking his hacks in the batting cage recently.
Ramirez, now 44, has not played in the big leagues since 2011 or at any level since 2014, when he was a player-coach with the Cubs' Triple-A affiliate. He spent this past season as a hitting consultant with Chicago.
During a winter ball stint in 2014, Manny's final act as a baseball player, he hit .313/.409/.510 with six home runs in 41 games. In his last big league season, he went 1 for 17 (.059) in five games with the Rays before being suspended for the second time for performance-enhancing drugs.
Consider me skeptical about a Manny comeback, but hey, if he wants to try it, more power to him. It's hard to believe he would work something out with an MLB team, but what about Japan or Korea? Ramirez did spend a year playing in Taiwan in 2013, remember. I could go for some new Manny Being Manny highlights.
