"If I were there right now, I'd punch you right in the mouth. Haha. How's that sound? Is that like I checked out? What an embarrassing thing [to say]" -- Bobby Valentine has had enough of Glenn Ordway's questions in weekly WEEI Interview
Just when I foolishly thought the Red Sox couldn't turn into anymore of a farce, the manager threatens a radio host live on air. Welcome to the 2012 Red Sox a team that has been as pleasant to watch this year as a Root Canal with no Novocaine. This time last year the Red Sox, looked certain of a playoff spot. One computer based prediction system gave them a 99 percent chance of making the playoffs. Then September came and a record of 7-20 for the month.The biggest collapse in modern MLB history.
The Carcass of the 2011 Red Sox was barely cold when John Henry and Co immediately went looking for a scapegoat. The most succesful Red Sox manager of the last 100 years Terry Franacona was fired.Francona was too friendly with the players, to soft a touch. It was his lack of discipline that caused the pitchers to drink beer and eat fried chicken in the clubhouse during games in which they didn't appear. Francona had to go was the narrative from ownership.
However, not before a story was leaked out to the Boston Globe ( here) from sources within the organisation. The piece claimed Francona was addicted to pain pills and was going through a separation from his wife,thus he was not focused on his job. The source of the information is widely believed to have come from Red Sox ownership. Nothing says class like dragging the reputation of the man who led your team to two world championships through the mud.
In Francona's place, the Red Sox appointed Bobby Valentine a manager who hadn't coached a major league team since he was fired from the Mets in 2002. Valentine ,the man who invented the wrap, was going to take control.Valentine was going to make sure the inmates were not going to run the asylum. As it turns out all Bobby V has proven to be the only person worse at man management than Trapattoni.
One month into his new job Valentine dropped the following beauty about Kevin Youkilis " I don't think he's as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason. But [on Saturday] it seemed, you know, he's seeing the ball well, got those two walks, got his on-base percentage up higher than his batting average, which is always a good thing, and he'll move on from there".
The thing to note there is that came in the midst of a three game winning streak for the Red Sox. Odd timing to pick a fight with a player universally respected in the clubhouse. The backlash to Valentine's comment were instant. Second Baseman, Dustin Pedroia, the next day rebuked his new manager "I don’t really understand what Bobby’s trying to do, but that’s really not the way we go about our stuff around here. So I’m sure he’ll figure that out soon... Maybe [that works] in Japan or something, but over here, [in] the US, we’re on a three-game winning streak". One month in and Bobby Valentine had lost the team. The relationship between Youkilis and Valentine detonated to such a point that the Red Sox basically had to give away the still productive and popular Youkilis for a bucket of baseballs to the Chicago White Sox.
As the losing continued so did the infighting. Things had gotten so bad between Valentine and the players, that the Players held a meeting with John Henry in a New York hotel in July demanding Valentine be removed as manager. Henry stood by Valentine, instead sanction a trade that saw 260 million dollars worth of players trade to the NAMA of Baseball the LA Dodgers in an attempt to get the team back on track.
Things have become so dysfunctional with Valentine that when asked for his thought on the Red Sox recent 20-3 loss to the Oakland A'S Bobby V responded "What difference does it make". The manager has openly quit on his team, as have the players and despite all this John Henry will not do the right thing and put Bobby V out of his misery.Liverpool fans you thought you had it bad because Henry wouldn't buy Clint Dempsey.
