Manny Ramirez Shows His Spirit In Tattoos

It is almost expected in the masculine world of sports that players will get tattoos, and this expectation is seldom disappointed. After all if you are standing with your upper arms exposed to millions of people you should at least be able to make your own personal statement.  Players such as Jason Giambi and Manny Ramirez usually go for a type of tattoos most favored by men — either the tribal or hip hop style.

Manny Ramirez tattoo preferences seem to be hip hop as the Major League Baseball left fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers has a prominent one on his upper arm.  Manny was born Manuel Aristides Ramirez on May 30th 1972 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  He is one of only 25 people to hit more than 500 career home runs.

No one is sure why Manny Ramirez tattoo favorites are as they are, or why he chose the tattoo he now sports, but much about this sports celebrity is mysterious.  He has been reported to have an almost single minded obsession with the sport of baseball.  This seems to be the story all his life as his high school coach once said “If I told Manny to be there for a game at 1 p.m., he was there two hours early.”  He occasionally forgets important things and once allegedly left his paycheck in a pair of boots at a visitor’s clubhouse, while expending all his energy on the game.  A phrase has started up regarding his behavior; “That’s just Manny being Manny,” people will say.

This single minded purpose goes well with the two types of Manny Ramirez tattoos.  The tribal prints and the hip hop shouldn’t really be a surprising choice.  Tribal tattoos have a long history.  They started in ancient times and tattoos came from designs actually being cut into the skin and then rubbing the wound with ink, ashes or other agents. These early patterns and designs are still the basis for modern tribal tattoos.

Hip hop tattoos are designs reflecting the culture of rap music.  Images coming from urban areas, prisons and gangsta influences and these usually have strong community or personal meanings to the wearer.

Some fans of the sport of baseball have gotten tattoo representations of their heroes. These can be taken from pictures of the players and can be incredibly realistic depending on the tattoo artist’s skill.