McCarver Not a Manny Fan

Tim McCarver is the lead analyst for Fox baseball, thus, he'll be working the entire NLCS and World Series this season, as usual. As long as the Dodgers stay as hot as they are right now, that's a lot of Manny Ramirez to cover ... and apparently ol' Timmy's not a huge supporter of Manny:

"It's extraordinary - the dichotomy between what he was in Boston and what he is in Los Angeles," McCarver said. "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."

So tell us how you really feel, Tim. Wow. He spewed venom about as much as a woman would when you tell her you don't like Grey's Anatomy -- especially if you say those two dudes are ugly. I guess McCarver didn't get the memo that the media is supposed to be in the middle of a love affair with Manny Ramirez right now. Didn't you hear? He's, like, the best player ever.

Honestly, I can't say I disagree much with McCarver's assessment -- a phrase I sincerely never thought I'd mutter, much less put in writing for all posterity to view. I don't know about the fake-limping accusation, but Manny really flipped a switch immediately when he was traded. It really seems like he was tanking for the Red Sox, and it's hard for me to respect someone -- especially with Manny's God-given hitting ability -- to purposely play with less than full effort in order to be traded.

The really interesting thing to see in the NLCS broadcasts concerning this situation will be if McCarver gets this nasty with Ramirez for a significantly larger audience, or if he backs off a bit. We'll see, but I'm guessing he's not quite as "tough guy" about it.

Wait, before I wrap this up, I want to agree with McCarver again ...