Manny Ramirez Hits First Home Run In Taiwan League [Video]

Manny Ramirez hit his first home run in Taiwan as a member of the EDH Rhinos on Thursday. The homer reportedly was the 7,000 round-tripper in the 24-year history of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League.

The sold-out game at Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium set an attendance record for a regular-season CPBL matchup as fans evidently wanted to see Manny being Manny.

In this video below, you’ll hear the Taiwan play-by-play announcers go nuts as the DH homers for the first time, even using the English words “two-run home run” and “see you later!” in their excitement. The Rhinos lost the game 10-7 to the Uni-President Lions, however.

Apparently attempting to reboot his career, Ramirez played in the Dominican Professional Baseball League in 2012-2013.

In his MLB career which ended under a cloud (or several clouds), Ramirez blasted 555 home runs and finished with a .312 career batting average, along with 2, 574 hits and 1,831 RBI. In Taiwan, after Thursday’s action, “Man-Ram” is batting .318.

The slugger was suspended 50 games as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2009 for using a banned substance and again in 2011 with the Tampa Bay Rays that forced him to retire after five games. Ramirez filed paperwork to return to the league and serve a 50-game suspension in December of 2011 and eventually signed with the Oakland A’s in 2012. Ramirez served the suspension before hitting .302 in Triple-A. He later asked for and was granted his immediate release from the ball club.

The Boston Red Sox traded Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2008 season after he essentially quit on the team. He also physically assaulted the team’s traveling secretary. The 12-time All-Star was named the Most Valuable Player of the World Series in 2004 when the Red Sox won their first title since 1918.

Do you think Manny Ramirez, 40, will ever find his way back to the big leagues in the US?

Watch Manny Ramirez hit his first home run for the EDH Rhinos:

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