Manny Ramirez retired yesterday suddenly. Apparently in response to failing a second drug test for performance enhancing drugs, which would have resulted in a 100 game suspension.

Thus brings an end to a career that saw many ups and downs and an overuse of the phrase "That's just Manny being Manny".

He finishes with a .312 career average (65th all-time), 555 home runs (14th), .411 on-base percentage, 1544 runs scored (54th), and 1831 RBI's (18th) and absolutely no chance of making the Hall of Fame- at least anytime soon.

With Manny's untimely- but in the end not at all surprising- retirement comes with the scarlet letter: steroids. And as we have seen with recent voting results for Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire, voters are not likely to just turn the other cheek.

Some have argued that using recent failed tests is unfair to use against a player in a Hall of Fame vote because you can never be sure when the use started. They're right, but that's the point: you don't know how many of those great statistics were affected by illegal substances.

The Hall of Fame is place reserved for the all-time greats. Players who were blessed with amazing natural ability, who were able to defeat father time and perform at an exceptional level for an extended period of time. The hint of steroids taints that because it raises questions about the biggest variable in separating good players from Hall of Famers- longevity.

Nobody doubts Ramirez or McGwire or Barry Bonds had the talent to do what they could do. What's questioned is could they have done it for as long as necessary without artificial assistance. McGwire was constantly injured before his use. Bonds' added bulk had to help him avoid wear-and-tear injuries as he approached Hank Aaron's 755 career home run record.

And here we are again with Ramirez. Aside from the impressive numbers, he was part of the Cleveland Indians teams that brought that franchise back to contention. He was part of the Boston Red Sox team that helped "reverse the curse", and then won it again two years later. He was also the guy who quit on his teammates and is as well-known for off the field antics as he is for anything he did on it.

In the end, Ramirez is just another name added to the "Steroid Era". A player who displayed an amazing ability that may or may not have been entirely natural. His self-inflicted wounds makes it hard for me to have sympathy for the tarnished legacy, but I wish I could.

I really do.