Manny Ramirez, recently returned from his 50 game suspension, will not be playing in his 13th All-Star Game in St.Louis tonight. But, consider this; this season he has a .355 Batting Average, .487 On Base Percentage, .669 Slugging Percentage and a 1.156 OPS to go along with 9 Home Runs and 29 RBI's in just 121 At Bats.
An All-Star calibre season with the obvious exemption of his 50 game hiatus due to a violation of MLB's Performance Enhancing Drug Policy. So, off the juice he has struggled to keep up his early season form? Um...No.
Since returning with mildly inappropriate fanfare, Manny has played 9 games - the Dodgers have gone 6-3 during this period - and has 11 hits in 29 At bats, 3 Home Runs, 9 RBI's and has seen his AVG, SLG and OPS rise. It's a small sample size but Ramirez has clearly not suffered from his enforced break from Baseball and, considering the strength and form of the players hitting around him, could produce one of the game's best shortened-season performances.
Joe Mauer, who missed the first month of the season with injury, has been lauded for his form since his return and is bidding for the first .400 season since Ted Williams achieved the feat in 1941. Mauer has just over twice as many At Bats as Ramirez and is hitting 18 points higher in Batting Average but, that and 1 Stolen Base aside, has lesser numbers than Manny considering the games they'be played. Lower OBP, lower SLG, lower OPS and less Home Runs and RBI's per At Bat.
Mauer could still yet be in line for an MVP award by the end of the year (he is also a phenomenal defensive Catcher) and Albert Pujols is a prohibitive favourite for the award in the National League. Manny won't be getting any love in award world come the end of the year, nor should he considering his offense. However, considering his tenure in MLB may only have a couple more years to run, one of the Baseball's best ever hitters and clutch performers could be about to turn an infamous 2009 season into one of his, and the Dodgers, most memorable.
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