Former Red Sox manager Terry Francona found himself back in the spotlight this week for a 2008 remark about Manny Ramirez. Francona said that he did not remember calling Manny "the worst human being I've ever met," but acknowledged that those remarks would have arisen out of the heat of the moment.

Francona's 2008 comments found their way into a Peter Gammons column that year. Though the former Sox skipper did not remember the exact words, he did recall the incident that would have provoked such a visceral reaction. It stemmed from Ramirez pushing traveling secretary Jack McCormick over the number of tickets Manny wanted for a game in Houston.

"I was probably blowing off some steam," Francona told WEEI, "but when you blow off steam sometimes you learn the hard way, so whatever."

Francona said the McCormick incident was "probably the hardest thing that happened to me with the Red Sox."