In the history of sports, there have been teams that won while bathed in controversy. In this day of constant coverage of every hangnail that exists regarding a sports team, controversy is almost guaranteed. So it is with the Red Sox.

Manny Ramirez is back in the lineup after a bout with the same kind of throat infection Pedro Martinez suffered through. While he sat on the bench for five games, the turmoil bubbled.

While the greatest publicity surrounded his showing up while sick in a bar at the Boston hotel he lives in, the real rolling of the coals came in a comment he made to ESPN’s Joe Morgan two Sundays ago.

Being sick in a hotel room and going to the bar to see a friend from another team seems no great evil. Hey, he might have given his “friend,” Enrique Wilson of the Yankees in this case, the infection. Maybe Manny was on a mission for the old home team.

What really galled the Sox front office and players was his comment to Morgan, in a TV interview, that his dream was to play for the Yankees. He grew up in New York City, a Yankee fan. Fine.

However, could there have been a worse time to make such a comment? The Red Sox are battling the Yankees for American League East Division title, they were preparing for a series against the pinstripes, and there is no Sox fan who wants to hear about a Boston star longing for Yankeedom.

This was only the second interview Ramirez had granted this year. He does not speak to the press. Now we know why. Better he had followed his own rules.

The Sox players and management publicly brushed off the comments, but were none to happy off the record. There is a general consensus that Ramirez just doesn’t think about what he says to the press and doesn’t understand the consequences.

He does want to play for the Yankees and was talking about that in terms of the future, with no intent to look ungrateful to the Sox for his “live rich forever” contract. Still, geez, get a grip on what that looks like in print or on the air.

Pedro Martinez is unhappy about the press questioning his health when he couldn’t pitch. On Monday when the team had the makeup game in Philly, he went on ahead to Chicago. He was not scheduled to pitch until Friday.

My ESPN broadcast partner for the game, David Justice said, “He should have been with the team.” He didn’t want to deal with the press over his health or the Ramirez issue and put that above his obligations to his teammates.

Nomar Garciaparra has taken to the cliches route with the press. He just wants to play and detests having to deal with the media everyday. Some days he just doesn’t talk at all.

Sorry, but you are the star of the team and a New England hero. Part of the job is to handle the press, not in extensive sessions if you prefer not to, but deal with the team’s issues and your play.

Ballplayers don’t complain about the money that comes there way with the fame generated by publicity. There is a reciprocal responsibility to be available to the press.

The Sox are good enough to win the east or the wild card. Perhaps the dissension will have no impact on the field. We’ll know in a month.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and NBC sportscaster.