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McCarver: Manny was 'despicable' in Boston

Fox analyst dislikes the way Dodgers star behaved with the Red Sox

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NBCSports.com news services
updated 3:19 p.m. ET Oct. 8, 2008

Fox TV baseball analyst Tim McCarver said Manny Ramirez's behavior with the Boston Red Sox was "despicable" and that he held the team "hostage."

McCarver, who will broadcast the Los Angeles-Philadelphia NLCS series beginning Thursday, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he has no plans to pull his punches about the Dodgers star.

"It's extraordinary — the dichotomy between what he was in Boston and what he is in Los Angeles," McCarver said of Ramirez. "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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McCarver said Ramirez is now rejuvenated.

"More than old Manny," he said. "Manny's doing things that even Manny doesn't do, [like] scoring on a double to right field from first base. ... It's a wonderful story in many, many ways, and from Boston's standpoint, it's a horrible story, I would imagine, because he could be doing that for Boston."

He said Ramirez presents fans a familiar scenario.

"Every sport, there have been people who have held organizations hostage, whether it be Terrell Owens or Randy Moss or Manny Ramirez," McCarver said.

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