Ramirez far from baseball’s bright lights on Japanese island
TOKYO — Manny Ramirez is set to begin the next chapter of his baseball odyssey by playing for the Kochi Fighting Dogs of Japan’s independent Shikoku Island League.
Ramirez is no stranger to farflung outposts, having put in a brief stint in Taiwan in 2013. But fans will be curious to see how the former major-leaguer, known for a quirky personality, adjusts to life in Japan.
Kochi is the capital city of Kochi Prefecture on the Island of Shikoku. The city has an estimated population of 340,000.
“I’ve always wanted to play in Japan,” the 44-year-old Dominican said in a comment posted on the team’s website. “I really appreciate the opportunity the Kochi team is giving me to continue my career. I’m really looking forward to playing in Japan.”
The Fighting Dogs open their regular season April 4 against the Tokushima Indigo Socks. In a pre-season game Thursday, Ramirez was the designated hitter and had two hits in five at-bats and one RBI in a 3-2 win over the Hideo Nomo baseball club.
Ramirez signed in January. While financial terms were not released, his agreement does have some unusual perks.
According to YakyuDB.com, Ramirez will get all the sushi he can eat, be chauffeured around in a Mercedes-Benz and will be put up in an expensive hotel. But it won’t all be glamorous. The Fighting Dogs will play many of their home games at the 6,000-seat Kochi Municipal Stadium. With an alldirt infield, it’s clean but low on modern amenities. Japanese-style squat toilets are often the standard.
Ramirez finished his 19-season major league career with a .312 batting average, 555 home runs and 1,831 RBI. A 12-time all-star, he helped the Boston Red Sox win World Series titles in 2004 and 2007, the first for the franchise since 1918.
Ramirez was suspended for 50 games in 2009 while with the Los Angeles Dodgers for using a banned substance. He retired in 2011 rather than face a 100game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.