Former MLB star slugger Manny Ramirez is eyeing a comeback in Taiwan, the first nation to start its baseball season amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“I have been itching to get back in the batter’s box and be able to compete again,” 47-year-old Ramirez told the Web-based Taiwan Times in an interview published on Wednesday adding that his goal was to “find a roster spot” in the CPBL.
“I also miss being around teammates and team dinners post-game,” said Ramirez, who was an All-Star 12 times during an 18-year MLB career and won the World Series twice with the Boston Red Sox.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
Ramirez’s agent, Hector Zepeda, yesterday posted a video on Twitter of Ramirez practicing in bright sunlight.
“He never lost his touch he still got it Opportunity is there for a come back for China Professional Baseball League,” Zepeda said on Twitter.
One of baseball’s most successful big hitters, Ramirez played in Taiwan briefly in 2013 after retiring from the MLB in 2011 as one of only 25 players to pass 500 home runs.
The Dominican said that game attendance almost “quadrupled overnight” with his arrival at that time.
“I know if I was given the opportunity to come in an organization as a player-coach, it would do great things for the organization and the league,” Ramirez said.
He described his experience playing for the EDA Rhinos, now known as the Fubon Guardians, as “a kid at a candy store,” saying that Taiwanese fans treated him like “baseball royalty.”
“My fondest memory of Taiwan happens to be my first home run in a Rhinos uniform,” he added.
Taiwan has bucked the global trend for scrapped sports events after starting a new baseball season this month. The four CPBL teams are playing to empty stadiums in games broadcast live locally — with one team placing robotic mannequins and cardboard cut-outs of fans dressed in home colors and caps in stands.
Some of the fixtures have also been broadcast with English commentary for international audiences — Ramirez said that he had been streaming most games.
“My routine consists of being awake by 6am, reading and educating myself more and more on the Bible, followed by nine innings of Taiwanese baseball,” he said.
Ramirez was credited for boosting attendance in Taiwan’s once-struggling baseball league, despite only playing for three months before moving on to Japan.
“Ramirez was quite a sensation when he played in Taiwan in 2013 and attracted many audiences,” a CPBL official said on condition of anonymity. “He would create fresh chatter if he comes to Taiwan again, whether as a player or coach this time.”
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