Schilling blasts Ramirez for attitude in Boston

[September 19, 2008]  BOSTON (AP) -- Injured Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said former teammate Manny Ramirez's behavior in Boston was a drain on his teammates and disrespectful to manager Terry Francona.

Speaking on a Boston radio station Wednesday, Schilling said Ramirez's "level of disrespect to teammates and people was unfathomable."

Although he was the first Red Sox World Series MVP in franchise history, Ramirez caused more than his share of problems, with trade demands and nagging or phantom injuries that led him to ask out of the lineup. Schilling, who is close friends with Francona, said the manager had to play Ramirez because of his talent but it undermined the team's unity.

"I was a teammate, a member of this family, and I saw it," Schilling said after acknowledging that he has been away from the team most of the season because of a shoulder injury. "And to me, it was always those guys, the guys who played a crucial role on teams that weren't the marquee players, are the ones that were disrespected the most."

Ramirez, who is in the last year of a contract that paid him $160 million over eight years, was sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline. Since then, he is batting .400 with 14 homers and 44 RBIs in 44 games.

"He was very kind, and well-mannered, but there were spurts and times when you didn't know who he was," Schilling said. "You know, he was always kind and nice for the most part, but he'd show up the next day and say, 'I'm through with this team, I want out now.'"

[Associated Press]

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