Former Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star outfielder Manny Ramirez officially missed out on entering the National Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving just 38.8 percent of the vote on his 10th and final ballot.
Players eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame have 10 years on the ballot to reach 75 percent of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote. Ramirez’s 38.8 percent in 2026 was the highest tally he ever reached. Former teammate Andruw Jones got the nod for the Hall this year, his ninth ballot.
The 19-year major leaguer put together a fantastic career, making 12 All-Star Games, winning two World Series and nine Silver Slugger awards. Throughout his time in MLB, he hit 555 home runs and tallied 1,831 RBIs while maintaining an OPS of .996.
When Did Manny Ramirez Play For the Dodgers?
The Dodgers acquired Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline in 2008, and he immediately made an impact in L.A.
The outfielder hit 17 home runs in just 53 games during his first season with the Dodgers, and posted a 1.232 OPS during that stretch. He remained with the Dodgers until the 2010 season, when the Chicago White Sox claimed him off waivers.
Through his 223 games with the Dodgers, Ramirez hit 44 home runs and tallied 156 RBIs while posting a 1.012 OPS — his best total with any team.
Why Didn’t Manny Ramirez Make the Hall of Fame?
While Ramirez had plenty of reason to enter the Hall of Fame with his accolades in MLB, the issues in his induction laid off the field.
Towards the end of his career, Ramirez got caught up in trouble with performance enhancing drugs. He received a 50-game suspension in 2009 after testing positive for human chronic gonadotropin, then a 100-game suspension in 2011 after another drug policy violation.
Due to his use of performance enhancing drugs towards the latter end of his career, voters have excluded him from Cooperstown due to the “Character Clause”. The Character Clause requires voters to consider a player’s integrity and sportsmanship along with their on-field abilities.
Ramirez isn’t the only victim of this clause, though, as countless players have been excluded due to PED use — perhaps most notably MLB’s all-time home run leader Barry Bonds.
While the outfielder will forever be remembered as one of the greatest outfielders of his time, he will not join baseball’s elite in Cooperstown.
