The usual caveats about PEDs apply here, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look at Manny Ramirez’s career statistics and conclude that he was an elite hitter. Just how elite seems to fly under the radar. Part of that is likely due to the fact that he never won a regular season MVP, and the other is his connection to PEDs, which hardly makes him a sympathetic figure. However, the stats are the stats and it is a fact that Ramirez battered pitchers in a way that we literally haven’t seen since Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. Ramirez and Ruth are the only two players in history with at least 550 career home runs, a .410 career on-base percentage, and a career .310 batting average. Ramirez and Ted Williams are the only players since 1936 with at least a .310 career batting average and a career .585 slugging %. He’s 8th all-time in career slugging % (min. 5,000 plate appearances), and he has the fourth-highest slugging % since 1958. He’s 10th all-time in AB/HR, and his 165 RBIs in 1999 are the most in a single season since 1937. He tallied seven seasons of at least 120 RBIs which trails only Alex Rodriguez for the most since 1937.

Ramirez was clearly a regular season beast, but his postseason numbers are what make him arguably the most underappreciated hitter in baseball history. He led 11 teams to the postseason, winning two World Series titles in four appearances, while also being named the 2004 World Series MVP. His 29 postseason home runs are the most in history. Jose Altuve (27) is the only other player within seven of Ramirez. He’s second all-time in postseason RBIs (78), just behind Bernie Williams (80). In fact, Williams is the only player within 15 RBIs of Ramirez’s total. Ramirez is tied for the lead in postseason walks (72) and fourth all-time in postseason hits (117) and runs (67). Ramirez wasn’t a five-tool player, which does limit his ceiling on the all-time list. However, he is undoubtedly one of the greatest postseason players in history and one of the most productive hitters since the 1930s.