Is Manny Ramirez a Hall of Famer?

Manny Ramirez is one of the greatest hitters of his generation, but does he have enough to get into the Hall of Fame? Let’s take a look at his career numbers.

.312 BA, .411 OBP, .585 SLG, .996 OPS, 555 HRs, 1831 RBIs, 154 OPS+

These numbers are absolutely astounding. He’s 9th all time in OPS, 14th in home runs, and 18th in RBIs. These numbers make him amongst the greatest hitters of all-time, let alone his generation. Lets put his numbers in some perspective. His career OPS is greater than the career OPS of Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial and Ty Cobb. He has more career home runs than Ernie Banks, Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle, and Jimmie Foxx. Amongst the 25 players who are members of the 500 home run club, his career batting average is third, only behind Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx.

Now, Manny Ramirez did play his career in a particularly offensive era. His 555 career home runs stands only 14 behind Rafael Palmiero and about 50 ahead of Gary Sheffield and Fred McGriff. However, he had an astounding OPS+ of 154 in his career. The OPS+, which measures OPS relative to the rest of the league, is 25th all time.

Manny Ramirez was never able to win in an MVP award, but he did place in the top five 3 times. If he had been able to secure several MVP awards, his candidacy would be much stronger. Manny Ramirez did make an amazing 12 All Star teams and win 9 Silver Sluggers.

The numbers above should be enough to make Manny Ramirez an automatic first ballot Hall of Famer. However, his two positive tests for PEDs may make it impossible for him to get enough votes. He was banned for 50 games in 2009 for a postive PED test and would have been banned for 100 after a positive test in 2011. Thus far, Hall of Fame voters have been very reluctant to vote in anyone with a connection to PEDs. Mark McGwire, who never tested positive for PEDs but did admit use, has never gotten more than 23% of the Hall of Fame vote. Rafael Palmiero, who did test positive for PEDs, garnered a measly 11% of the vote in 2011. With two positive PED tests under his belt, it’s hard to imagine Manny Ramirez getting into the Hall of Fame.

Other Reading

2012 Baseball Hall of Fame Candidates: Who’s in and Who’s Out

2013 Baseball Hall of Fame: The Greatest Hall of Fame Class That Will Never Be?

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Is Jack Morris A Hall of Famer?
Are Mike Mussina and Curt Schilling Hall of Fame Worthy?
Should Fred McGriff Be a Hall of Famer?
Should Jeff Kent Be a Hall of Famer?
Should Omar Vizquel Be a Hall of Famer?
Should Frank Thomas Be in the Hall of Fame
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Are Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera Hall of Fame Worthy?
Is Billy Wagner a Hall of Famer?
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Sources:

Baseball-Reference.com – Major League Baseball Statistics and History”, Baseball-Reference

Reference:

• www.associatedcontent.com/article/7756842/2013_baseball_hall_of_fame_the_greatest.htm
• www.associatedcontent.com/article/7756710/2012_baseball_hall_of_fame_candidates.html
• www.associatedcontent.com/article/5590134/is_jeff_bagwell_a_hall_of_famer.html