Jim Rice is now talking about baseball as he readies himself for the Cooperstown Hall of Fame. An ex-Boston Red Sox slugger who had 382 home runs declared that the use of anabolic steroids is “dumb.” During the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he said that steroids are not worth it. “I don’t understand why guys think they need steroids,” he said when asked by a reporter whether the 50-game suspension of Manny Ramirez due to banned substances will tarnish the legacy of Boston’s left fielders. It can be recalled that before the Red Sox traded him to Los Angeles Dodgers in July, Ramirez played left field for Boston in 2001-2008.

Rice said that Ramirez, who has 533 career homers, isn’t really part of the Boston’s left-fielder legacy because he spent the first eight seasons of his MLB career with the Cleveland Indians. “When you talk about me, (Carl) Yastrzemski and Ted Williams, we have three things in common,” he said.”We all played left field, we all played our entire career with the Red Sox and we’re all in the Hall of Fame. I can’t speak for Manny because he’s not an original Red Sox (player).”

The Major League Baseball has finally decided to suspend Ramirez after testing positive for human chronic gonadotrin (HCG). This is actually a female fertility drug that can minimize the side effects of decreased sperm count and testicle shrinkage that may happen at the end of steroid cycles. Rice also said that some of the best baseball players don’t need steroids,”Babe Ruth didn’t need it, Lou Gehrig didn’t need it, and now Manny is going to lose about $8 million dollars,” Rice said. “It’s just dumb.”

And when asked if a batter today would need a steroid, Rice said that “the average weight of a bat is 33 ounces—you don’t need it. Steroids are supposed to make you get stronger. So what if you hit the ball maybe 15 rows in instead of 10 rows? What’s the big deal? Why do you need it?”

Meanwhile, Rice is honored to be chosen to be included in the elite group of men that played baseball. “I think I’m ahead of the game. I never thought that one day I’d play in the big leagues. If it was the other way around, if I wasn’t sitting here today, I wouldn’t be angry or anything like that because I’m ahead of the game.” Rice retired in 1989 after his entire career was spent with the Red Sox. Rice was elected to Cooperstown last January and after 14 years, he received 412 votes to earn induction together with stolen bases leader Rickey Henderson.

Accompanied by his wife, Corine, Rice smiled often during his first visit to the museum. “All of a sudden you’re able to touch some of the memorabilia of player that made the game what it is today, some that I enjoyed playing against,” he said. During his career, Rice hit .298 with 382 home runs and 1,451 RBIs. He also earned eight All-Star selections and finished in the top five in American League MVP voting six times. Apart from these, Rice also won the award in 1978 when he batted .315 with 213 hits, 46 home runs and 139 RBIs.

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