BOSTON — The Spaceman arrived here via a red-eye flight from California last night and he did what he usually does best — speak his mind.

Bill Lee, the former Red Sox pitcher, was one of eight inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame, but before the dinner got rolling, Lee was already in fine form.

He addressed a few issues that seemed to be bugging him, mainly the club’s decision to trade slugger Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers in July.

“This game is a game of temporary things,” said the always-animated Lee. “Like, Manny was well-loved and then he would have his little fits. We would patch things up and then we would win a world championship. This year, I think, Boston just kind of got fed up with winning. That’s too bad because we could have been world champions again. He wouldn’t have hit those 6-irons into the wind against the Cubs. He would have hit them against Tampa Bay.”

When pressed further about Ramirez’s situation and the controversy he caused with the clubhouse and his lack of hustle at times, Lee pooh-poohed the entire thing.

“He always took August off,” he said. “In France, they give you a month vacation and give you two hours for lunch. … He did it in 2004 and did it in 2007. He’s always done that.

“A prophet in his own time is not well received in this town,” added Lee. “I was for nine years and 142 days. I told everyone on (radio) that the Red Sox would not win it without Manny Ramirez, and they told me to shut up. I told them, ‘You guys don’t like to win, do you?’ Because he’s the greatest hitter I ever saw.”

Lee was just getting started.

“I love the guy,” he said. “He’s a prima donna and he pushed down a traveling secretary. Well, you pick the traveling secretary up, dust him off, apologize and you go back to work. You don’t say he was a pariah, like Curt Schilling said. He can kiss my [butt].”

When asked what the Red Sox needed to do this offseason, Lee was quick with his answer.

“Sign Manny Ramirez,” he said. “He only saved L.A. … They should patch it up with Manny. You’re going to see his number [retired] on the wall sooner or later, aren’t you? He’s going to be standing where I’m standing right now. Because if he doesn’t go in the Red Sox Hall of Fame, you can kiss my [butt] because he’s the greatest I’ve ever saw.”

Lee is never one to pull punches and he addressed a few different issues other than Ramirez.

He spoke about race relations, George Bush and Barrack Obama. Lee even told a story of four Irishmen coming to his house to kill him during the desegregation riots in Boston in the 1970s.

He talked about how he saved Fenway Park and new ownership.

“The new Red Sox management loves me because I’m their type of guy,” Lee proclaimed. “The old management, I probably cost them $400 million. Me and some guys from Cambridge, we started ‘Save Fenway Park.’ The seven of us marched on the streets, and the thing grew and the mayor got involved. It grew and it grew. John Henry came in and bought the club and realized what a jewel it was.”

Lee pitched for the Red Sox from 1969 to 1978 and posted a 94-68 record with a 3.64 ERA in 321 games (167 starts). Still, he is a little hurt that some members of the Red Sox were inducted into the Hall of Fame before he was.

“It’s 10 years too late as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “Bruce Hurst went in before me (2004). He has less wins, more losses, a point higher ERA. What do you think I am? Chopped liver.”

Finally, when asked what life would have been like if the Red Sox won the World Series in 1975 and 1978, Less didn’t disappoint with his answer.

“I would have been mayor,” he said. “If I had been mayor, I would have banned private vehicles in downtown Boston. We would all be walking and cross-country skiing. We would all be in better shape. And if we were all in better shape, there would be no parking and Frank McCourt wouldn’t have been able to buy the Dodgers, and Manny would have never gone to L.A.”

McCourt is a real-estate mogul in Boston who attempted to buy the Red Sox, but lost the bidding to Henry and his group in 2001. McCourt wanted to build a new ballpark on his land, but when he wasn’t awarded the team, he eventually bought the Dodgers.

jmcdonal@projo.com