Dominican Manny Ramirez returns to baseball at age 48

Sydney – Manny Ramirez is back in baseball, this time on the other side of the world.

The 48 – year – old Dominican, legend of the Boston Red Sox and 12 times elected to the All-Star Game, is scheduled to start the season on Thursday, in the uniform of the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League.

Sydney manager Shane Barclay said Ramirez, a two-time World Series winner, prepared a conscience for the campaign. His team opens the season against the Melbourne Aces, defending champions.

“We knew there would be a show with Manny, but that was also a pleasure,” Barclay said on Wednesday. “He has had a huge acceptance and I just swing like a man he is 48 years old. He is an amazing athlete. You have legitimacy to play, who does it and is committed in every way. He’s going to hit some homers this season.

Ramirez, the Most Valuable Player in the 2004 World Series, in which the Red Sox broke the 86-year-old sequence without being crowned, have played in the minor leagues of the United States, as well as China and Japan, since they finished their career in the Major Leagues in 2011.

In 2009, 50 games were suspended for violating baseball anti-drug policies. The Major League Office notified him of another offense and sentenced him to 100 games, but the player appealed and the penalty was reduced to 50 games.

Ramirez is in Sydney for the New York Yankees christening coach. Rachel Balkovek, who accepted the position while there is no season in the Major Leagues. Balkovec is the first woman to have performed such a task in the Major Leaguess.

Injuries affected the Sydney team at the end of the previous campaign. The team did not qualify for the playoffs, having won just five of their last 22 games.