McCarver: Ramirez's lack of commitment with Red Sox 'despicable'

[Forkboy]

(Don't really like McCarver, but he's got this exactly right)

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"It's extraordinary -- the dichotomy between what he was in Boston and what he is in Los Angeles," McCarver said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I mean, talk about wearing out your welcome in a town, and it was a long welcome with the Red Sox. But some of the things he did were simply despicable, despicable -- like not playing, refusing to play. Forgetting what knee to limp on. And now it's washed, it's gone."

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"You can't ignore all of the things that happened in Boston," McCarver told ESPN's Bob Ley. Later, asked if "despicable" was the right word, McCarver said: "I'm fine with it. I was fine with it when I said it."

Ramirez was asked for his reaction. "I play hard," he said. "When you play hard, everybody respects you."

He was asked if he played hard in Boston. "Yeah, I did," Ramirez said. "I did play hard."

Ramirez spoke to the media in Los Angeles on Tuesday. He wasn't specifically told of McCarver's comments, but did tell a Los Angeles Times blog: "I was just trying to see the opportunity that I was going to get to change my image. All that B.S. that was in Bean Town wasn't true. That I'm just an easy guy to please. A lovely guy."

The blog asked Ramirez if he was worried that people are getting the wrong impression of him as a good teammate who plays hard. "Not really," he said, according to the Times blog. "You know why? As long as you know my teammates, they know how hard I play. I care about everybody on the team. That's what matters to me."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2008/news/story?id=3632077

[obamachangetheworld]

1. .347 is dragging your feet?

and people complain because he doesn't leg out ground balls? Granted there was considerable tension between Ramirez and the Red Sox before he left, but seriously, that was more than 2 months ago. Jason Bay is doing an incredible job, the Red Sox are in the playoffs again; why can't red sox fans just move on? For Curt Schilling to get on the radio and rant how manny doesn't care about anyone, long after he left, and for it to stay an issue for so long just shows a compulsive need for retribution. He led you to two world series victories; it's time you guys played forgive and forget.

The age of Manny is over, the age of Jason Bay is just beginning.

[Forkboy]

3. It's a sports forum with a lot of Sox fans, and baseball fans.

I posted the article after watching Sportcenter. McCarver brought the topic up, not Red Sox fans. :shrug:

And what he said is true anyways. Manny did dog it here. He wasn't hitting .347, he was hitting .299.

Compare the stats;

With Boston - Avg: .299 OBP: .393 - SLG: .529 OPS: .927
With L.A. - Avg: .396 OBP: .489 - SLG: .743 OPS: 1.232

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=2974

No one has said he didn't play hard, but he took enough nights off when he wasn't hurt to the point where it was a running story for the last two years. McCarver isn't joking about the forgetting which leg to limp on part. Who wants a teammate who leaves them out to hang like that? I hate any player in any sport who does that. This isn't really a Red Sox/Dodgers (I like the Dodgers, too) thing to me. It bothers me on a different level.

He wasn't the only one who led us to those two World Series. There are plenty of other greats on the team, greats who pulled their weight and played for their teammates, not for themselves.

I don't blame Dodger fans for being thrilled with Manny. He's the best hitter in the League when he wants to be, and right now he clearly wants to be. But that just wasn't the case here at many times, often important times. That's not my idea of a professional player, and that's why I think McCarver is right on this.

[Tektonik]

2. The Red Sox treated him like shit, it's not surprising

[Forkboy]

4. Get back to us after 8 years of him.

[SpiralHawk]

5. Takes time for ATTITUDE to surface