Manny Ramirez is 44 years old and attempting to play baseball again, for the Kochi Fighting Dogs of the independent Shikoku Island League in Japan.

Ramirez appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year, and it looks as if he’ll stay on the ballot — on Ryan Thibodaux’s website that tracks Hall of Fame ballots, Ramirez was at 25.1 percent with nearly half of the voting accounted for. That’s not bad for a two-time PED offender who can’t seem to give up the game.

Ramirez’s desire to keep playing is being supported all over baseball.

“I don’t know what he has left, but I do know that he was the best righthanded hitter I ever saw,’’ said Braves president of baseball operations John Hart, who with the Indians when he signed Ramirez out of Washington Heights, N.Y., when he was 17.

“He just loves playing the game,’’ Hart said. “He loved it as a young kid and he loves it now. At this point I doubt he’s motivated by money. I think he’s made a lot of it. He’s motivated now by the pleasure he gets in hitting a baseball. He obviously still has fun doing it. So I think it’s a great story and I hope it works out for him.’’

Hart said he was never contacted about giving Ramirez a shot. Hart recently signed 43-year-old pitcher Bartolo Colon. He has also employed Julio Franco, who remained a productive major league hitter through age 48 and may still be playing somewhere at age 58.

“I’m never surprised by anything Manny does,’’ said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, a former teammate of Ramirez in Boston. “I think we all know he could hit, and that doesn’t leave you. He seems to be in excellent shape so that helps, because you need your legs to hit and it looks like he still has that.’’

Ramirez has found religion. He reads the Bible every day and has seen the error of some of his ways. He apologized to Red Sox travel director Jack McCormick for assaulting him over a last-minute ticket request that McCormick couldn’t oblige. It came many years after the fact, but McCormick accepted the apology.

The Manny story is pretty big in Japan.

One Japanese baseball official said, “Manny is considered a great character and he’s fun. I think people are looking forward to seeing him play. It’s going to be a story the media will follow closely.’’

In Japan, the media isn’t allowed in the clubhouse and can only speak to the manager after a game. So Ramirez won’t have to do many interviews. It will be more a case of the media reporting on his performance and not so much his words.

Ramirez certainly has Hall of Fame credentials. He finished his career with a .312 batting average and a whopping .996 OPS, which ranks eighth all time. He had 2,574 hits, 555 home runs (15th best), and 1,831 RBIs (18th best). According to Baseball-Reference, Ramirez earned $206,827,769 in salary.

Details of Ramirez’s latest contract aren’t available, but the feeling is that because it’s an independent league team, it’s not likely for much.

Ramirez last worked for the Cubs as a hitting consultant, and even played part time for their Triple A Iowa team in 2014. Cubs executives thought Ramirez had a profound influence on their young hitters, particularly Javier Baez and Jorge Soler, who has since been traded to the Royals.

Ramirez was considered fun to be around, but everyone knew his role would be temporary, that he’d want to move on to something else.

“He was good for our players,’’ said Cubs assistant general manager Jason McLeod, who worked with Ramirez in Boston. “The guys at Triple A enjoyed his presence. Manny enjoyed his time acting as a mentor to a lot of the Latin players, but he also took the time to get into the cage really early in the morning to get his swings in.’’

McLeod said Ramirez had a big role in 2015, but “he wasn’t around as much last year.’’ McLeod surmised that Ramirez was working to get in shape and possibly attempt a comeback.

Asked whether he thought Ramirez could pull it off, McLeod said, “When I saw him, and in the game he played for us at Triple A, he still had that beautiful swing and he could still drive the ball to right-center. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen him, but I wouldn’t bet against it.’’

“We’ll have to see how his body holds up,’’ Hart said. “If it does, he’s best suited for the American League as a DH at this point, but would I be surprised if he could still hit? Absolutely not.’’

Johnny Damon once said that Ramirez could fall out of bed at age 50 and hit .300. He may be right.

“There’s been a lot of talk about Edgar Martinez being one of the greatest righthanded hitters and his Hall of Fame possibilities,’’ McLeod said. “Manny was Edgar with power. You don’t talk too much about righthanded hitters with beautiful swings, but Manny had one of the prettiest swings. His balance and the ease of his swing was phenomenal.’’

Frank McCourt, the Boston businessman who owned the Dodgers when his staff acquired Ramirez from the Red Sox, said, “I’ve been a baseball fan all my life and sitting watching the Dodgers in August, September, and October of 2008 were some of the most enjoyable months I’ve ever had. And that was due in large part to Manny and the impact he had on the team and the city of Los Angeles. The only other similar experience was watching the ‘Impossible Dream’ Red Sox in 1967.’’

McCourt also saw the downside.

“Of course, Manny’s suspension [for testing positive for PEDs] changed all that,’’ McCourt said.

trending upward

Hall voting shows softened stance

With nearly half of the Hall of Fame ballots accounted for by Friday afternoon, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds both have seen surges in voting in their fifth year. Bonds was at 64 percent (up from 44.3 percent last year) and Clemens at 63.5 percent (up from 45.2 percent). That’s still short of the required 75 percent for induction, but there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Based on weekend projections, Tim Raines (91.4 percent), Jeff Bagwell (90.9), and Ivan Rodriguez (79.7) will qualify. On the cusp were Vladimir Guerrero at 74.6 and Trevor Hoffman at 73.1. Edgar Martinez was at 66.5, Mike Mussina at 60.9, and Curt Schilling, clearly hurt by his controversial post-career comments, at 52.3.

I don’t think Guerrero is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but I do think Rodriguez is. It’s good to see Raines on the verge in his final season on the ballot. I voted for Raines for the first time.

I have voted for Bonds and Clemens all along. One big reason for their surge is the recent Hall of Fame election of former commissioner Bud Selig by the Today’s Game Era committee. It seemed to give many voters who had withheld votes for known or suspected steroid users license to vote for them, with the reason being that Selig oversaw the steroid era, and if the person overseeing it gets in, why not the players?

This should give hope to players such as Alex Rodriguez — one of the greatest offensive players in history, but a two-time PED violator — when he comes up for election.

Apropos of nothing

1. Jim Leyland, who will manage Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, said the toughest part about assembling the roster is the pitching staff. So he’s offering pitchers the chance to go back to their respective teams in between starts and even participate in only the rounds they choose. “We’ll come up with a good team,’’ Leyland said. “Pitching is the toughest part right now, but we can work with pitchers to make it right for them. If they need to pitch once and then go back to their teams, that’s fine. We’ll make it work.’’

2. Leyland said the best player he ever managed was Barry Bonds, but “the best five-tool player I ever had was Larry Walker. I hope he gets to the Hall of Fame someday. He was a great player.’’

3. We remember Bill Fischer as the pitching coach for Tom Seaver and Roger Clemens, but what’s absolutely amazing about Fischer is that he’ll be starting his 70th season in baseball. Fischer, 86, is still a pitching adviser for the Royals organization. “Fish’’ and I had a few run-ins in his Red Sox days, but I always respected him.

4. David Ortiz will be the featured guest at the Connecticut Sports Foundation’s annual dinner on Feb. 10 at Mohegan Sun. Also on hand will be Yankees first baseman Tyler Austin and Mets lefty Steven Matz. Proceeds go toward cancer research. For more information, go to www.sportsfoundation.org.

5. The 74th annual Boston Baseball Writers dinner will be held Thursday at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. There are still tickets available, at $200 per seat. The lineup is strong, with Mike Lowell heading a tribute to the Red Sox’ 2007 championship team. John Farrell, Dave Dombrowski, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Theo Epstein, Terry Francona, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Luis Tiant will all be there. For ticket information, contact Ashley Walenta at 617-624-1231 or awalenta@sportsmuseum.org.

Updates on nine

1. Steven Wright, RHP, Red Sox — Wright is still rehabbing his right shoulder but feels he’ll be full-go for spring training. Wright has been dealing with bursitis and rotator cuff irritation since diving back to second base in a pinch-running role Aug. 7 against the Dodgers. Wright was upset about the public bashing of manager John Farrell for his decision to pinch-run Wright, which led to the All-Star pitcher missing the final month of the regular season and the playoffs. “I wish people would stop blaming John for that. I was actually excited he called my name for that role,’’ Wright said. “I was completely prepared for it. . . . I went through all my checkpoints. I told myself I was going to be aggressive and I got caught. That’s my fault. I landed wrong on my shoulder. That’s nobody’s fault. I could have been hurt stepping out of the shower. I could have been hurt if I had reached base the day I pitched two days before. I don’t know why people have to blame someone. It’s baseball.’’

2. Tyson Ross, RHP, Rangers — The Rangers won out on the rehabbing righty (thoracic outlet syndrome). The Cubs were hoping to land Ross to add some depth to their rotation. According to assistant GM Jason McLeod, the Cubs aren’t looking for a six-man rotation, but “given the age of some of our starters, [manager] Joe [Maddon] and Boss [pitching coach Chris Bosio] would like to be able to plug someone in every now and then to give them an extra day’s rest.’’ The Cubs elected not to re-sign righty Jason Hammel, who remains a free agent.

3. Jose Iglesias, SS, Tigers — Like most players on the Tigers roster, Iglesias could be on the trading block. The Tigers, who are trying to get under the luxury tax threshold, believe Dixon Machado is ready to take the shortstop job. Iglesias earned $2.1 million last season and settled for $4.1 million before arbitration.

4. Jerry Dipoto, GM, Mariners — Dipoto loves to turn over his roster. Since Oct. 1, Dipoto has acquired 36 players, including starting pitchers Yovani Gallardo (via Baltimore), Drew Smyly (Tampa Bay), and Chris Heston (San Francisco), relievers Marc Rzepczynski (free agent) and Casey Fien (free agent), outfielders Jarrod Dyson (Kansas City) and Mitch Haniger (Arizona), shortstop Jean Segura (Arizona), first baseman Danny Valencia (Oakland), and catcher Carlos Ruiz (Dodgers).

5. Carl Crawford, OF, free agent — According to one Dodgers official, Crawford has pretty much called it a career. There was some thought he might try to make a comeback, but it appears he’s had enough at age 35.

6. Ian Kinsler, 2B, Tigers — The All-Star is a possible fallback for the Dodgers if they can’t work out a deal with Minnesota for Brian Dozier. The Twins may be having second thoughts about dealing Dozier. “The Tigers are a willing trade partner because they’re trying to get rid of payroll. Kinsler is still a top player and he only has two years remaining on his deal,’’ said one major league executive. Kinsler, 34, is scheduled to earn $11 million in 2017 and there’s a club option for $12 million in 2018 — a very friendly contract for any team to absorb. However, Kinsler said in November that he would need a contract extension to approve a trade to LA.

7. Shane Victorino, OF, free agent — Victorino, 36, has an offer but his agent, John Boggs, is awaiting word from Victorino as to whether to accept it. Victorino is likely looking at a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Boggs could not reveal which team has made the offer.

8. Pedro Martinez Jr., 3B, free agent — Pedro Martinez’s son is a pretty decent prospect as a righthanded hitter. Only 16, he took part in the International Prospect Showcase in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, last week. “He’s going to get signed. He’s definitely a prospect,’’ said one American League scout who watched him at the Showcase. “He’s got some power.’’ Martinez Jr. is about 6 feet 2 inches, 180 pounds.

9. David Ross, special assistant to baseball operations, Cubs — The former backstop has signed on to work under Theo Epstein. Ross was a popular figure for the Cubs and Jon Lester’s personal catcher. Ross, who retired after the 2016 season, had some managing and TV opportunities but chose the special assistant role, which allows him to spend some time at home with his family.

Extra innings

From the Bill Chuck files — “Mookie Betts did not strike out in the last 18 games of his 2016 season; it was the longest streak in the majors last year. He hit .369 over that stretch.’’ Also, “The Tampa Bay Rays still have never had a batter with a 200-hit season, and the White Sox have only had Albert Belle, in 1998, since 1955.’’ . . . Happy birthday, Wayne Gomes (44).

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo. Material from interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.