The Manny Ramirez Hulk costume donned by the erstwhile MLB player recently looks like a playful jab at his own troubled history. Ramirez appeared in the garish green look on a train trip between cities in Taiwan, where he currently plays for the Chinese Professional Baseball League in the EDA Rhinos .
It would be fun to think that it was a voluntary case of “Manny being Manny,” as the popular saying goes. However, according to multiple reports, it was the Rhino’s manager’s idea to ask the team to wear Halloween costumes for their recent trip.
It still isn’t entirely clear if the manager or Manny specifically picked out the Manny Ramirez Hulk costume.
Born in the Dominican Republic, Manny Ramirez has been one of the most attention-grabbing figures in recent baseball history. The colorful outfielder got some unwanted attention in 2003 when he became one of over 100 major league baseball players who reportedly tested positive for using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).
In 2009 he was suspended 50 games for using human chorionic gonadotropic (hCG), which also violates baseball drug policy. The drug may be evidence of PED or steroid use because some people claim it can restart the male body’s natural ability to make testosterone .
The issue of repeated drug policy violations eventually forced Ramirez to retire from the major leagues in 2011. He ended up in Taiwin.
In real life, you can’t bulk up by getting zapped by radiation or being bitten by a spider. Sometimes there are PEDs involved.
But you can always put on a Hulk costume. Manny being Manny, Ramirez at least knows how to smile at himself.
Manny being Manny: Here’s a photo of Manny Ramirez dressed as the Hulk in Taiwan for your Friday (h/t @ cut4 ) twitter.com/BleacherReport…
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 10, 2013
Here’s one Twitter user’s take on the project:
Did y’all see that picture of Manny Ramirez dressed as The Hulk? He’s now casted in the next Avengers film #MLBFC twitter.com/minapark/statu…
— Mina Park (@minapark) May 11, 2013
I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Manny Ramirez to appear as Hulk in a major motion picture. But then again, why not?
What do you think of Manny Ramirez’s Hulk outfit?
[Boston Red Sox 2008 photo from Manny Ramirez MLB days by Keith Allison via Flickr and Wikimedia Commons]