I don’t know Manny Ramirez any better than any of you. Never interviewed him. I saw him play a couple times and he was, you know, damn good. He could hit. He smiled. I’ve heard the same stories you have. Showing up at parties and trying to teach people the new dance he liked. Selling his BBQ on eBay. Getting busted in the elevator. The dreads, the lack of focus. The hard work in the off-season, sometimes at Athletes Performance, sometimes on his own. His video study that many said was almost as groundbreaking as what Tony Gwynn had done with his VCR. 

Now his legacy is tarnished, at best. A second positive test removes any sort of wiggle room he might have had in saying the hCG positive was a mistake. Rumors that he’s on the 2003 survey will re-surface, if not get leaked outright. Manny is now in that club with Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, and Clemens - some of the best players of their era who won’t make it to Cooperstown. 

I hope to have my Hall of Fame vote in 2018 and I’ll admit to dreaming on it a bit. I’ll take a look at players and wonder who’ll retire in 2013, coming up for the first time on my ballot. I look at players like Tim Raines, Edgar Martinez, and Jeff Bagwell who I might help put over the top. (Yes, I’d vote for all three.) The BBWAA doesn’t have a defined policy on how to consider players that have tested positive or that have been accused of steroid use. We’re all left to consider our conscience along with the other factors.

I don’t think I’ll write down Manny Ramirez’s name if I get that chance. It’s less about Manny being Manny and more about Manny being a two-time positive. I don’t feel good about that and I wonder how - if at all - Bud Selig will deal with this.