Papelbon Calls Ramirez "A Cancer"; Manny Responds

Boston Red Sock Jonathan Papelbon has some choice words for former teammate Manny Ramirez, calling him "a cancer" in the April 2009 issue of Esquire. And now, Ramirez responds.

First, the root of the imbroglio. Papelbon's quote was carried by ESPN.com today:

Jonathan Papelbon is apparently still unhappy with Manny Ramirez.

The Boston Red Sox closer calls Ramirez a "cancer" in the April issue of Esquire.

"It just takes one guy to bring an entire team down, and that's exactly what was happening," Papelbon said, according to the magazine. "Once we saw that, we weren't afraid to get rid of him. It's like cancer. That's what he was. Cancer. He had to go. It [stunk], but that was the only scenario that was going to work. That was it for us."

One would imagine that Manny would respond in kind to such a statement, and late Thursday Ramirez issued his own press release:

"I want to take the opportunity to [Papelbon's] public comments that I was a cancer. Clearly, Paps is mixed up. I'm a Gemini, born May 30. Thank you."

Ramirez' grasp of the zodiac dates is indeed correct. True, Cancer is next to Gemini, but given Ramirez isn't even a cusp baby, it's odd how Papelbon could have gotten so confused with such an elementary concept. In the meantime, Papelbon, a cusp Sagittarius, might want to stop slinging so many arrows.