Once Upon A Time ...

... the Boston Red Sox had a left fielder who often put himself first and the needs of his team a distant second.

He was thought of as a child by many people, an overgrown adolescent who didn't know how to function in adult society. Many of teammates would laugh at (or dismiss) his regular hijinks and say "Well, that's just the way he is."

He refused to play several times, even defying his manager's orders. He once quit the Red Sox and went home to pout for a few days. He deserted the team without permission, deciding he would rather play in an exhibition game (for extra money) than play a season-ending game at Fenway Park (so much for the fans who wanted to see him bash a home run that day).

He regularly disobeyed the Red Sox team curfew and was fined and benched several times. Every off-season he demanded more and more money from the Red Sox front office, telling them he'd quit the game unless they gave in to his demands. Many of his teammates were furious at Red Sox management for allowing this egomaniac to often call his own shots with the team -- come and go as he pleased -- while everyone else had to follow the rules.

He drank to excess and was sometimes found in the morning passed out in the streets of Boston by children -- children! He was regularly involved in car accidents, sometimes with women who were not his wife. He loved to spend time with prostitutes.

Red Sox fans today firmly believe the team was insane to have got rid of this mystery player.