Manny Ramirez
Manny Ramirez was one of the most colorful players in recent memory, and was well-known for his great playoff performances, but he is the second straight player in this countdown whose reputation was tarnished by testing positive for steroids.
Manny first played in the Majors for the Indians near the end of 1993, and came in #2 in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1994. In 1995, he reached 30 home runs and 100 RBI's, which are benchmarks he would reach 11 more times in the next 13 seasons, which is a testament to his incredible consistency.
That was also the first of 5 consecutive seasons in which the Indians would reach the postseason with Ramirez on board. That included trips to the World Series in 1995 and 1997, when they lost to the Braves and the Marlins, and while Ramirez didn't play well in those World Series losses, he hit 13 total home runs in those 5 postseasons.
During the 1999 season, he led the entire league in RBI with 165, and finished third in the MVP voting, the highest he would get in his career. After the Indians failed to reach the playoffs in 2000, he left as a free agent to sign with the Red Sox, with the largest contract in history at that time.
In his second season with Boston, he led the league in batting average at .349, but the Red Sox did not reach the playoffs in his first two seasons there. The addition of David Ortiz to the team in 2003 was the boost the team needed, vaulting them into the playoffs, where they lost in 7 games to the Yankees during the ALCS.
In 2004, Ramirez led the league with 43 home runs and a .613 slugging percentage, and the Red Sox returned to the playoffs, where they again met the Yankees in the ALCS. This time, they fell behind 3-0, but rallied to win 4 in a row behind the greatness of his teammate, Ortiz. In the World Series, Ramirez hit .412 in a 4-game sweep to win the World Series MVP award.
The Red Sox won another World Series in 2007, and this time Ramirez was even better. In the ALCS, he hit .409 with 10 RBI as Boston beat Cleveland, and he hit .348 total for the postseason. He also broke the all-time record for playoff home runs that year, hitting his 23rd to pass Bernie Williams, and he would eventually extend his record to 29.
Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers midway through the following season, and he was great in the postseason for LA, batting over .500 in each of the teams' postseason series, but they would fail to reach the World Series that season. He began the 2009 season on a good pace, but just a month into the season was informed that he had failed a drug test and would be suspended for 50 games.
This was the second time that Ramirez had been caught cheating. He had tested positive in 2003, when the league randomly tested players to determine the extent of steroid use in baseball, but players were given immunity for positive tests during that round of testing. After joining the Rays in 2011, Ramirez again tested positive for a banned substance, and chose to retire rather than face a 100-game suspension.
Ramirez finished his career with 555 home runs, #15 all-time, and is also #18 all-time in RBI. He hit 21 grand slams in his career, good for third place in history, and is still the all-time leader in postseason home runs. He was a World Series MVP, and a very consistent performer in the regular season, and even with the proof that he cheated on multiple occasions, he is still one of the greatest ever to play the game.
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