Manny Ramirez

In the middle game of a three game set between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards earlier this week, a rubber match was taking place between Boston's Josh Beckett and Baltimore's Jeremy Guthrie.

As much as Major League Baseball would like to set the issue of steroid use behind them and move on, the debate is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

The recent Barry Bonds trial and Manny Ramirez's sudden retirement due to a second failed drug test further pulled the issue back into the spotlight, and Roger Clemens' trial this summer will keep us from forgetting the issue this season.

This is NOT a list of the two greatest hitters for each team. This is a list of the greatest individual seasons for two hitters on each team. 

Steroids are ignored. Barry Bonds is on this list. So is Alex Rodriguez (twice, actually, and not with the Yankees). Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, and other known or assumed users are here. 

Listed by division, not ranked by greatness. 

With the recent news of Manny Ramirez failing yet another drug test, the debate of whether or not players tied to steroids deserve Hall-of-Fame recognition has sparked once again. 

The biggest issue in baseball is the usage of steroids. Bud Selig and the rest of the league have become more wish-washy and flip-floppy than any politician on the face of the planet. Implementing a ban on performance enhancing drugs is only a fraction of what the league needs to do to keep PEDs out of Major League Baseball.

This past Friday, Tampa Bay Rays outfielder/designated hitter Manny Ramirez abruptly retired.  He had been batting .059 in six games.  It was later revealed that he had once again tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and was facing a 100-game suspension.  Instead of going through with the suspension, the controversial outfielder chose to end his career.

The Braves enter their mid-week series with division rival Florida Marlins 4-6, a record that most in the baseball world would call a mild fiasco for a team that garnered such praise out of March.

Is anyone really surprised? Really? It almost feels as if this is how it's supposed to be.

After parts of 19 seasons in which he accumulated 555 home runs and over 1,800 RBI, the former Yankee-killer we know as Manny Ramirez has called it quits. We've seen the last of his cell phone conversations in left field between innings, and no longer will his critics be able to accuse the 12-time All-Star of not playing hard.

Manny Ramirez called it quits this last week, deciding to retire instead of going through an impending MLB drug treatment program.

Sources say that Manny was facing a 100-game suspension due to testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

How did Manny Ramirez fool the baseball world so long? How did he make us believe at times that he actually cared about the team he was playing on? There were times when it seemed Manny genuinely gave a damn about winning, when in fact all he really cared about was himself.