To remind everyone, McCarver is an imbecile

[Tektonik]

http://shutuptimmccarver.com/gems.htm

2006 gems submitted by our readers...
"This is the first time in major league history, except for the strike season, included, where there was no 20-game winner" - McCarver apparently thinking that the shortened season would yield more wins than normal. -Evan Rakowski (Game 1 2006 ALDS)

During Game 5 of the 2006 NLCS, on a pitch to Jose Reyes, McCarver says, “That pitch wasn’t down and in, that pitch was down and up.” Too bad you can't go up and down at the same time. -Mario, NY
"If Oliver Perez throws in the succeeding innings like he did in the first, you might not need the bullpen early." - Many readers

"Well, David Eckstein, like most of us, has 20 digits. Ten fingers. Ten toes." - Many readers
"Something to keep in mind -- it's raining lightly. The infield could be very wet on ground balls." - Many readers

"On most teams the set up man has become more valuable, on others not so valuable." - Paul G.

“So by guessing right you might have guessed wrong.” - NLCS Game 6, 10/18/06, Nicole B., Queens, NY

2004 ALCS, Game 5? Red Sox vs. Yankees . David Ortiz hit a home run into right field. Tim: "Mt. Everest erupts again!".....too bad Mt. Everest isn't a volcano! - Many readers

August 19, 2006 Yankees @ Red Sox. "Pitching is such a vital part of the game, as far as winning is concerned" - Sarah Page

2005 gems submitted by our readers...
"In the time it's taken to play this game you could have flown from Baltimore to Iceland." (2005 WS Game 4, 10/26), Huh?

"Roy Oswalt is a drop and drive pitcher. What is a drop and drive pitcher? He is a guy who drops and drives. Very simple." - From many readers. (2005 WS Game 4, 10/26) Very insightful Tim!

A lot of readers submitted this one, and I probably would have posted it myself had no one written in, but instead I'll credit Bill Simmons with this one from his 10/24 blog entry, lead item, "The McCarver/Buck exchange right before Podsednik's walkoff homer Sunday night, which definitely goes down in the pantheon of Eerie Broadcaster Moments. Buck said something like "Do you think Lidge still has the taste of that Pujols homer in his mouth?" -- quickly followed by McCarver saying, "I don't think that taste is there." Within like 0.000000000045 seconds, Podsednik was slamming the game-winner. I don't think everyone else combined in the history of sports broadcasting has jinxed as many pitchers as Buck and McCarver over the last few years. It's unreal. The 1965 version of Sandy Koufax couldn't pitch a no-hitter against the team from "A League of Their Own" with Buck and McCarver announcing."

Has anyone suggested this site to him or the intern yet?

[Forkboy]

1. Yep, he is.

He was still right about Manny though. I can totally understand your euphoria over Manny right now. I felt the same way about him for years, but you're way off on how the Sox treated him and the type of teammate he is.

[Tektonik]

2. Manny was an ass, but that stems from the franchise

Especially the past year and a half.

McCarver is not right btw.

[Forkboy]

3. Tell us the story of how the Sox treated him so badly then.

Manny was being an ass long before a year and half ago.

Tell me, do you really think the Sox would be eager to trade the best hitter in baseball if there wasn't extenuating circumstances? Do you really think all the fans would be happy to be rid of him if there wasn't extenuating circumstances? Bays's first time to the plate in Boston and he got a standing ovation. Why do you think that is? Why do you think even Ortiz, Manny's best friend, said it had been time for him to go?

If it's the Sox fault, why did some Cleveland players say pretty much the same things about him when he was on their team?

You keep saying the team treated him like shit, but the only example I've seen from you is that they kept trying to trade him, which just proves how unprofessional he is. EVERY player in every sport has rumors of being traded all the time. It's part of the game, and every player knows it...except for Manny, who had his feelings hurt that the team may actually want to trade a player who dogs it some nights, not because he's hurt but because he just doesn't feel like playing, while getting over a hundred million dollars a year. Which itself is another reason they tried to trade him, to unload that contract so they had room to maneuver on other player's contracts, or to bring an actual teammate in.

No offense meant here, honestly, but don't you think it might be possible that in your excitement over having him that you're a bit blinded to the other side of the story? You've seen him for three months, at his best and on his best behavior. We've seen him for 8 years. Isn't it possible that we Sox fans have a slightly more informed opinion of what went down over the years than you do so far?

[nickgutierrez]

4. There is a great article by Joe Sheehan today about this

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=1052

In July, when Ramirez was supposedly “refusing to play,” the Red Sox played 24 games. Ramirez played in 22 of them. This was tied for fourth on the team with J.D. Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury. He was sixth on the team in plate appearances (AB+BB) in July. Not quite Lou Gehrig’s numbers, but he helped out a bit more than David Ortiz (six games), and was in the lineup somewhat more often than peers such as Moises Alou (one game). Oh, he didn’t get three days off in the middle of the month-Ramirez played in the All-Star Game.

When he played, Ramirez killed the league. He hit .347/.473/.587 in July. His OBP led the team, and his SLG led all Red Sox with at least 25 AB. The Sox, somewhat famously, went 11-13 in July. Lots of people want you to believe that was because Manny Ramirez is a bad guy. I’ll throw out the wildly implausible idea that the Sox went 11-13 because Ortiz played in six games and because veterans Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek has sub-600 OPSs for the month.

Four days before he was traded, Manny Ramirez just about single-handedly saved the Red Sox from getting swept by the Yankees, with doubles in the first and third innings that helped the Sox get out to a 5-0 lead in a game they had to win to stay ahead of the Yankees in the wild-card race.

If all of the above is “refusing to play,” I would sincerely like to see what “trying” looks like. It would be entertaining to see a player post a .600 OBP or .800 SLG.

So, yeah, McCarver is a dope. So is Joe Morgan, but that's a different website.

[Forkboy]

5. Want to see what trying is?

Compare the numbers, and note that Manny was hitting .299 overall, nearly a hundred points lower than his suddenly new found injury free hitting with the Dodgers. Did the injuries cure themselves overnight?

With Boston - Avg: .299 OBP: .393 - SLG: .529 OPS: .927
With L.A. - Avg: .396 OBP: .489 - SLG: .743 OPS: 1.232

The story you posted talks about the "refusing to play" in the entirely wrong context. No one has claimed, that I'm aware of, that Manny didn't play hard when he played, but taking big games off due to phantom injuries is pathetic, an insult to baseballs fans and, more importantly, his teammates. That's the "refusing to play" part, which is exactly what he did, and did often enough over the last three years that it was constant running story out here.

McCarver wasn't kidding about forgetting which leg to limp on. It really happened. Is that your idea of a good teammate? Is that your idea of someone worth 140 million or so per year? If he was your teammate, would you want someone who has left you out to hang like that on more than a few occasions?

Look, I truly understand the Dodgers excitement over Manny right now, but ask Boston fans, the ones who have actually watched him for eight years as opposed to three months, what he could be like. So far, Dodgers fans have heard Manny's side only it seems, and in their understandable euphoria seem to not even want to admit there is another side to the story.

[nickgutierrez]

6. He carried the Red Sox in July.

July, meaning the month in which he was traded - presumably, the moment where his presence became untenable. Anybody can have a couple of rough months, but his July OPS was right where it's been with the Dodgers, and it's easy to argue that the Sox wouldn't be in the playoffs without that performance.

"Trying" or not trying is subjective. The fact that he carried the team in July, less so.

[Forkboy]

7. Again, there's more to the story than July.

I don't get why this is so hard to understand. You can't just cherry pick what he did right in the last month and ignore what he did wrong over the last few years. :shrug:

And while he "carrying the team" he was also trashing them openly in the media.

[trumad]

9. Let's see---carry the team---or trash them

wow---tough decision

[joeybee12]

8. Yeah, why can't you understand this? Why is taking swings at Youkalis

and the traveling secretary carrying the team? If Manny were still with the Red Sox they would not be in the playoffs.