TMZ reports that Manny Ramirez has been arrested in Florida following a domestic disturbance, and The Associated Press has confirmed that he’s been charged with battery after an altercation with his wife, Juliana.
Witnesses told TMZ that Ramirez was involved in an altercation with his wife and taken out of his Weston home in handcuffs around 7 p.m. EDT. According to the police report, Ramirez and his wife were arguing in their bedroom when he slapped her face, causing her to hit her head against the headboard of the bed.
Ramirez denied hitting his wife, according to the report, telling a deputy “he grabbed his wife by the shoulders and when he shrugged her, she hit her head.”
Juliana left the house shortly after Manny was taken away, but she did not request medical treatment for swelling on her face and a small bruise on the back of her head.
Ramirez, a 19-year major league veteran, hit 555 homers before retiring in April amid the news that he’d face a second steroids suspension that would cost him 100 games. There were later reports that he might consider a comeback in the Dominican Winter League.
Ramirez was named to 12 All-Star teams and won two World Series with the Red Sox (2004, ’07). He served a 50-game suspension while with the Dodgers in 2009 after testing positive for hCG, a women’s fertility drug. The Rays signed him for $2 million last winter, but he played in just five games for the team before calling it quits.
