STABILITY
Other than New York, there arguably is no tougher and more scrutinizing baseball market than in Boston. The Red Sox own the sports scene in Boston, more than the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, or Boston Bruins. This means that the hiring of any manager is a critical hire than management can expect to come under close evaluation and strict monitoring by the fans and the media.
Tito was very popular among his players. In spite of the September meltdown and understandable disappointment, Francona built up significant goodwill with many fans in the Boston area during his tenure with the Red Sox, which included two World Series titles. Certainly the next manager would be a person that would appreciate the unique baseball climate in Boston. Certainly the next manager would be a man who understands that harmony in the clubhouse and positive public perception are critical. Certainly the next manager would be a man with the profile of Bobby Valentine. Wait…BOBBY VALENTINE??? (Insert the sound of tires screeching after slamming on the brakes.)
| A stunned Ozzie Guilen: "If I'd have known you were gonna hire Bobby Valentine, I'd have applied for the job. I wouldn't be in so much trouble! There aren't many Cubans in Boston." 1 |
BOBBY VALENTINE – LIKE SHAKING A SODA CAN
Boy oh boy, the Red Sox “went and did it”. Bobby Valentine, by all accounts, has a brilliant baseball mind and is a very intelligent man, in general. So the Red Sox selected as good of a baseball strategist as was available. Picking someone with Valentine’s baseball IQ is not a surprise. Do you know who else has a high baseball IQ? Ozzie Guillen!
Not being exposed to a strong personality for an extended period of time can cause a person to forget just how combustible that person can be. During the latter part of the last decade, while Valentine was managing successful teams in Japan, I had forgotten about Valentine’s antics. Earlier today, Mike Greenberg of ESPN Radio’s “Mike and Mike in the Morning” compared Valentine’s hiring in Boston to shaking a soda can and then opening it – some people may think it is a cool thing to do and see while some think it makes a mess and wastes soda. Either way, the status quo is toast.
What did time soften in my memory? Valentine is the same guy who was fired by former team owner (and future U.S. President) George W. Bush (an oilman by trade) from the Texas Rangers in the middle of the 1992 season with a winning record. I can only imagine that W. had better things to do during his father’s reelection year than make a major change in the organization he owned as a hobby while the team was winning. But Valentine has that effect on people.
| Bush, (right): "Bobby, the way baseball works in 'Amerca' is that you're either with us...or you're with the 'terrists'. You're not with us anymore." 2 |
Valentine is the same guy who was suspended and fined by Major League Baseball for antics as manager of the New York Mets during an extra innings game against the Toronto Blue Jays in 1999. Valentine lost his cool with an umpire during the 12th inning and was ejected from the game. He returned to the dugout before the end of the game, disguised with a fake mustache.
Valentine is the same guy, while managing the Mets in 2000, who reportedly threw players on his team under the bus while addressing students at the Wharton School of Business. The incident and the result are a microcosm of the essence of the man. The Mets would go on to be National League Champions that year, but without the warm and fuzzy feeling one would expect on a pennant winning team.
| Umpire: "Oh sorry! I thought you were the guy I just tossed out of here five minutes ago. You look just like him!" 3 |
THEY DON’T DO THINGS THAT WAY IN BOSTON
So, why I am I writing about Valentine today? What did he do this time? Over the past weekend, he only questioned the commitment of one of the most intense players and best hitters over the course of his career, third baseman Kevin Youkilis (.288 career BA, .390 OBP) – a member of both World Series Championship teams in 2004 and 2007.
| I wonder how Youkilis would respond if Valentine told him that his unothodox batting stance is, "not the way we do things in Boston," 6 |
Second baseman and 2008 American League Most Valuable Player Dustin Pedroia returned fire at his boss. "I really don't know what Bobby is trying to do. That's not the way we go about our stuff around here. He'll figure that out. The whole team is behind Youk. We have each other's backs here,” said Pedroia, who added, "Maybe that works in Japan." Funny, I thought baseball teams did things the way the manager says they do them.
The Daily Hat Trick ran a piece last week about dysfunctional franchises in professional sports, in light of the rift between Orlando Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy and their superstar center, Dwight Howard. Valentine’s Red Sox are well on their way to joining that not-so-elite company. It didn’t take long for the team to move to the head of the sports world’s special needs class.
| Pedroia, a second baseman, is saying that Valentine, the manager and Pedroia's BOSS, isn't doing things, "The way they're done around here," but he'll learn in time. REALLY? I wonder if Pedroia's dog is wagged by its tail. 5 |
RECIPE FOR DISASTER
Changes in an organization’s climate can shorten the memory of an observer. Valentine’s brief tenure has shortened my positive memories of the Red Sox organization. It is tough to remember that, just one year ago, the Red Sox took the field on Opening Day with a roster that was being compared to the 1927 Yankees. Analysts, almost across the board, picked the Red Sox as the favorites to win the American League in 2011.
In spite of an 0-6 start to the season, the Red Sox rallied to take a nine game lead over the division rival Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Wild Card race in September. Sports projection website coolstandings.com placed the Red Sox odds of reaching the playoffs at 99.6%. The team collapsed and the Rays advanced, not the Red Sox.
So in spite of an historic collapse, the termination of the long time, two time World Series winning, manager, the unfavorable public backlash and intense scrutiny on a very talented team in the 2012 season, the Red Sox hire the a guy who could disrupt the harmonious environment of a monastery. Bobby Valentine went “Bobby Valentine”. Now there is trouble in Beantown in the middle of April.
Maybe the Red Sox will return to the postseason. I don’t think they will due to the train wreck that appeared to be forming at the end of last season. Regardless of the team’s on field success (or lack thereof) it is going to be a L..O..N..G summer in Boston. But it won’t be a dull one!
| If the Red Sox wanted Valentine to give the team a "jolt", he did! 4 |
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1) Image from http://www.businessinsider.com/
2) Image from http://www.bostonglobe.com/
3) Image from http://www.metsblog.com/
4) Image from http://kmgarcia.blogspot.com/
5) Image from www.davidicke.com
6) Image from www.bleacherreport.com
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