Monday, November 10, 2008

The Spaceman Speaks

Bill Lee is doing a better job of representing Manny Ramirez than Scott Boras is:
“This game is a game of temporary things,” said the always-animated Lee. “Like, Manny was well-loved and then he would have his little fits. We would patch things up and then we would win a world championship. This year, I think, Boston just kind of got fed up with winning. That’s too bad because we could have been world champions again. He wouldn’t have hit those 6-irons into the wind against the Cubs. He would have hit them against Tampa Bay.”

When pressed further about Ramirez’s situation and the controversy he caused with the clubhouse and his lack of hustle at times, Lee pooh-poohed the entire thing.

“He always took August off,” he said. “In France, they give you a month vacation and give you two hours for lunch. … He did it in 2004 and did it in 2007. He’s always done that.

It gets even better when he says that both Curt Schilling and anyone who wouldn't support enshrining Manny in the Red Sox Hall of Fame can kiss his ass. And I can't say I would have been opposed to the plan Lee would have deployed if elected mayor of Boston in the wake of a hypothetical 1974 World Series victory.

Must be read in its entirety to be appreciated.

2 comments:

tadthebad said...

Love the Spaceman. Great video out there, I think produced by NESN, of Lee and an ensemble of very amateur ballplayers traveling to Cuba to compete against similarly organized clubs. I do disagree with him about Manny being the missing link to a 2008 world series championship, but Bill Lee remains a classic.

Mark S said...

There are a few folks who are always great baseball interviews and quote machines and Bill Lee falls into that category along with Yogi Berra, Jose Canseco (on the tragic side of course), Ozzie Guillen and Manny would fall into that category.

Loved watching Lee pitch and wonder what may have been had Zimmer not misused him down the stretch and if he wasn't bodyslammed during the brawl. What's the saying 'the brightest meteors burn out the fastest'?