Kuzul

April 8th, 2011, a day that will live in infamy. It’s the day Manny Ramirez officially decided to hang up the spikes. 

This is neither a time to complain about Manny’s faults nor a time to debate just how much Manny’s legacy has been affected—it’s a time to appreciate the career of one of the most feared right-handed hitters to ever step foot into a major league batting box.

There was a time when you literally couldn’t pitch to this guy. RBI was his middle name.

His 165 RBI in 1999 was the most by a player since Hank Greenberg had 183 in 1937. He thrice topped 140 RBI in a season, topped 100 RBI 12 times, and only once played more than 130 games in a season without topping 100 RBI.

Manny hit 555 home runs in his career, walked 1329 times, hit over .300 11 times and finished his career at .312/.411/.585/.996 (average/on-base/slugging/OPS).

However, for all the numbers that Manny put up in his stellar career, it was never numbers that made him great. It was what made him different.

He always played the game with a smile on his face. Always. He would strike out and walk back to the dugout smiling. He would drop a fly ball, and then he would smile. 

And there’s something to be said about somebody who doesn’t take the game too seriously. 

He was truly a joy to watch and was always good for a laugh. 

He once caught a fly ball, jumped, found the one Red Sox fan in the crowd (it was a road game), gave him a high-five, threw the ball back in and doubled the man off first. 

Another time, he cut off a throw from fellow outfielder Johnny Damon on a David Newhan ball in the gap, leading to an inside-the-park home run.

He also skipped a visit to the White House after the World Series, made a phone call during the middle of a game (on his cell phone), took a bathroom break in the middle of a game and actually missed a pitch, made a song about getting high his walk-up song and told the Red Sox, “Gas is up and so am I,” when asked about his future before free agency.

Yes, it’s safe to say Manny Ramirez was an interesting fellow, but he was also a lovable one.

And while everybody else is bitching about how he cheated and how he tainted his legacy, just think about the man whose pine-tar-glazed helmet and signature dreadlocks made you smile for the last 19 years—I know I’ll never forget. 

Cheers to one of the greatest pure hitters of this quarter century. Have fun in Spain.

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Dear Bud Selig,

Baseball is America’s Pastime.

It earned that title through hustle, tradition, and hard work.

No player embodies those points more than Pete Rose.

Nobody loved the game more than Rose. He played every game like he had been let out of jail for one day.

Baseball was his life.

People say love is a strong word, but in the case of Pete Rose it’s not strong enough to describe his feeling toward baseball.

Who else do you know that would barrel over the catcher in an exhibition game!?

He sprinted out to his position in the field and chugged over to first on walks as if he had just hit a ground ball that would be the last out of the World Series.

Rose knew who were the strict umps, the loose umps, the strike umps, the ball umps; he knew if the guy umping first was a runner’s ump or a fielder’s ump; he knew the fielding percentage of each ballboy in the Major Leagues.

Pete Rose knew everything about baseball, his passion for the game oozed through his jersey.

However, like many men have before him, and many men have after him, Rose made some serious mistakes.

He bet on the game that he had loved for so long, and in the world of sport, there is no bigger sin.

And I’m not trying to say what he did wasn’t wrong, it was. But don’t you think a lifetime ban from baseball is a little harsh?

I mean Bud, let’s face it, banning Pete Rose from baseball is like banning Brett Favre from football, or Barry Bonds from steroids, or Lindsey Lohan from alcohol.

Now, I know you’re not the one who banned Pete from baseball, but you are the guy who can fix it.

Listen, everybody makes mistakes, but what would this world be without second chances? Michael Vick got a second chance, Pacman Jones got like 50 second chances, even your very own steroid policy allows players multiple chances, so why are we so against giving Pete Rose a second chance?

You know, KNOW he would never make a mistake like this again. In fact, earlier this year when Pete Rose was allowed back in a ballpark for the first time in 25 years, he still spoke with passion for the game, saying “I’m so excited. Just to be able to circle the base paths will be great, They’ve sold 40,000 tickets, I hear. For a game with Pittsburgh!”

So why won’t you re-instate him Mr. Selig?

Sammy Sosa took steroids, no ban. Mark McGwire was on the juice, and he just coached for the Cardinals this year.

But Pete Rose, one of the 15 greatest hitters in baseball history, one of the few guys who cared more about the game than the paycheck, a guy that should be a poster boy for your league, makes one mistake, and BOOM lifetime ban.

How is that fair?

Charlie Hustle is now a 69-year old, lonely, broken man who signs baseballs for $357 that say “I’m sorry I bet on baseball” to make a living. And that’s not how a baseball legend should be forced to live out the waning years of his life because of one mistake he made two and a half decades ago.

Bud, you have a chance to fix that.

Please re-instate Pete Rose, he’s suffered long enough.

Sincerely,

Mike A.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The 2010 MLB season was most certainly one of the strangest in recent memory.

With only two players topping 40 home runs, and five no-hitters, you could also say it was a transitional one, as we now leave the steroid era and enter the next era in baseball.

You could also call it one of the craziest MLB seasons with the ridiculous ways a lot of injuries were suffered.

However, I’m willing to just stick with one word to describe this season: Insane. Some of the things we saw this year we may never be so lucky (or unlucky) to see again.

So here’s your recap of the season that was, as Mike A. presents the first annual Slammy Awards. Enjoy!

Note: All stats are as of Oct. 2, 2010

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