Manny Ramirez, 48, Brings His Bat to the Sydney Blue Sox

As for what Ramirez gets out of all this, the answer is a place to play for an aging baseball junkie who declares that the sport “isn’t just a game, it’s life!” on his Twitter bio. Since his big-league career abruptly and effectively ended with a second positive test for performance-enhancing drugs in 2011, Ramirez has played in the minors, his native Dominican Republic, Taiwan and Japan.

“I could’ve gone to the Dominican Republic, where I’ve played, but I wanted to try something different,” said Ramirez. “It’s awesome. The city is beautiful. The city’s on the water. It’s unbelievable.”

Sydney, like those other stops, is a long ways away from the bright lights of the major league stadiums in Cleveland, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago and Tampa Bay. The days of being stalked by the Green Monster, or idolized by residents of Mannywood, were no less than a decade ago.

And yet, Ramirez has found a way to carry on his baseball career in yet another new land, his latest team thrilled to help write the next chapter.

“We want to create Manny Down Under,” Dobb said. The Blue Sox seem to be well on their way.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/sports/baseball/manny-ramirez-sydney-blue-sox.html