Bill Lee isn't famous because he was a good pitcher for a few years in the 1970s. He's famous (and beloved) because he has absolutely no filtering mechanism between his brain and his mouth. The man is a quote machine and so when Boston recently honored him, Mo Vaughn and Mike Greenwell by inducting them all into the Red Sox Hall of Fame, who do you think the reporters went to first to get some good sound bites. And boy, oh boy, did he deliver.The bulk of his rant focused on the stupidity of Boston management vis-a-vis a certain dreadlocked slugger that happened to get traded away this season. Manny Ramirez is his kind of guy, you see, because he plays hard and he wins. So what if he takes a month off every summer and gets a little shove-y with elderly front office guys?
“You pick up the traveling secretary and you dust him off. You don’t say he was a pariah like Schilling said and everything else. He can kiss my ass.”
You really need to watch the whole thing, because there's so much more. Bill's ex-wives, Boston's racism, the history of idiotic Sox management—everyone gets a well-placed zinger sent their way and you can just see the delight on the reporters' faces as they realize for the first time what it's like talk to someone in sports who doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks, especially Curt Schilling. But you better care what Bill thinks, because he's always right. [Some naughty language ahead, but with beeps.] Click to view Spaceman" defends Manny at Red Sox Hall ceremony [NECN] See also: I Think Bill Lee Likes Manny [Boston Score] + Spaceman Lee Sounds Off [My Fox Boston]