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The Spectacle Blog
I took Patriots’ Day off and went to Fenway Park to see the Red Sox play the Tampa Bay Rays and can tell you that Red Sox Nation does not heart Sox manager Bobby Valentine.
Daniel Bard, who has been converted into a starting pitcher, was pitching a beautiful game in his second career big league start. He went toe to toe with Rays starter James Shields. The game was scoreless into the seventh. Bard retired the first two hitters. But then Bard walked Sean Rodriguez, gave up a single to Desmond Jennings and then walked Carlos Pena on four pitches.
At this point, Bard should be out of the game. The bases are loaded and he’s thrown 107 pitches. Again, this is his second big league start. Instead out comes pitching coach Bob McClure. Whatever McClure tells Bard it doesn’t work because Bard walks Evan Longoria on four pitches bringing home Rodriguez. It would turn out to be the only run of the game.
Finally, Valentine comes out to get Bard. When Valentine turned around to go back to the dugout he was jeered as if he were wearing a Yankees uniform. I’ve never seen Terry Francona received like that at Fenway. I turned to the guy next to me and said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a ‘Bobby V sucks’ chant.” The gentleman countered, “We want Tito.”
Tito would never, and I mean never, rip a player in public.
No doubt, Valentine didn’t endear himself to Red Sox Nation when he ripped Kevin Youkilis for his commitment to the game. He certainly didn’t endear himself to Dustin Pedroia. Bobby V. subsequently apologized to Youk. Currently, Youkilis is nursing a sore groin and was not in the lineup today.
This is going to be a long, long season.
albert constantine jr.| 4.16.12 @ 10:31PM
Though he wasn't treated that way when he was in Philly, Terry Francona was a class act. Interesting times ahead for Red Sox Nation.
Bob S| 4.16.12 @ 10:45PM
What, you really never saw that treatment for Tito? There's a reason why he and Epstein aren't with Red Sox Nation anymore. They were ran out of town.
Boston fans like to talk bad about Yankees fans, but both are among the fans that display the least amount of sportsmanship in all MLB, possibly in all professional sports in the US.
Aaron Goldstein| 4.16.12 @ 11:01PM
Tito's contract was up. It was ownership that did not renew his contract. There wasn't a huge clamor from the fans to fire Tito in the way there was for Grady Little after he left in Pedro Martinez in the 8th inning of Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Tito is still held in very high esteem here.
Mike Daly | 4.23.12 @ 1:21PM
Not only is Francona still held in high esteem, his esteem has grown as people have seen just how dirty the Henry-Werner-Lucchino mafia did him in. They fired him because they didn't want to admit their boy Theo Epstein was a colossal failure as a GM, yet Theo left anyway; ownership institutionalized backstabbing long ago and they unleashed it with the phony story Bob Holler had to write about Francona and drug use; they had that story planted to cover their own ass.
Crassus| 4.17.12 @ 12:30AM
The Red Sox should have hired Larry Bowa. Player relations was his strong suit.
/sarc
jocon307| 4.17.12 @ 1:31AM
Hey I didn't read this whole post, but I jut want to say I hate Bobby Valentine.
W fired him you know.
I hate the guy. Sorry Beantown if he's your cap. now.
Will| 4.17.12 @ 8:12AM
He should not have said that about Youk, of all players. Valentine has had to deal with some world-class slackers, but Youkilis ain't one of them. He'll do well to amend this mistake, and do it quickly. This is not Shea Stadium.
JohnD| 4.17.12 @ 9:20AM
These would be the same Boston fans who booed Ted Williams, the greatest left-handed hitter of all time?
Aaron Goldstein| 4.17.12 @ 10:04AM
Well, not quite. Ted Williams last swung a bat more than half a century ago. While there are still people from that era around it's safe to say there's been some turnover.
Steve A| 4.17.12 @ 10:54AM
Williams had 2 problems. Rabbit ears & a frosty relationship with any "Knights of The Keyboard" (Press). If 20,000 applauded & 3 drunks called him a bum, he admittedly heard the negatives.
More current Boston fan reaction to Williams was displayed at the 1999 Fenway All Star Game.
JP| 4.17.12 @ 9:24AM
I was living in Texas during the mid 80s. I probably attended 30 Ranger games back then. I watched a young Bobby Valentine mis-manage a young but talented group of Ranger players. I never understood what owners saw in this guy.
Steve A| 4.17.12 @ 10:36AM
All of this is making Curt Schilling look like Nostradamus. Say what you want about Schilling, but he has big stones & he is not afraid to air out his opinion & alienate the "inside baseball" crowd.
Valentine's problem is that he wants the light to shine on him. He will utter ill advised comments to make it happen. Managing 101: You have your players backs covered at all times, 100%, until they completely implode & become a disruptive force like a Milton Bradley or Zombrano. You display the proverbial middle finger to ownership, press, fans, opposing players & managers & anyone else, at all times, when your guys are slammed. They will kill for you then.
astorian| 4.17.12 @ 12:10PM
Like they killed for Terry Francona last September?
Look, I've never been a huge Bobby Valentine fan, and it won't surprise or bother me a bit if he gets fired. But no Red Sox fan should forget the way the team quit on them AND on Francona last year. The idea that everything would be just peachy if the manager would just give poor old Youk a pat on the back is not only false, it's LUDICROUS.
Of course, so is the idea that an unproductive player will magically start producing if the manager bans beer, fried chicken and video games in the clubhouse.
The Red Sox have a LOT of problems (and, truthfully, my Yankees have several of the SAME problems). But they're not problems that ANY manager can solve by simply by being nicer or meaner to the players.
If Kevin Youklis isn't hitting, the possible solutions are 1) Bench him, 2) Cut/ trade him, 3) Give him time and hope he snaps out of his slump.
The veteran players the Red Sox have are NOT going to change. They probably CAN'T change, at this point. And unfortunately, these guys have won championships i nthe past, so there's no way to convince them there's any NEED for change.
They think last fall's nosedive was just bad luck, and they resent anyone who sugests it was their fault. They WON'T listen to a manager who tries to light a fire under them.
So, management has to decide: do they let the inmates run the asylum or do they clean house? Keeping the old players around while trying to motivate them a new way won't work
Steve A| 4.17.12 @ 12:57PM
You back them in public & then bust their ass privately when necessary. Francona lacked part 2 apparently. The Red Sox lack the pitching to get it done regardless of who fills out the lineup.
ShalomMetsJets| 4.17.12 @ 3:05PM
I am a long time Mets fan and remember Bobby V mostly fondly, as I tend to like managers willing to think outside the box a bit. The problem with Bobby V, and it happened with the Mets, is the make-up of the teams he is effective with and those he cannot manage. He tends to be better with younger teams that need a heavier hand. Toward the end of Bobby V's tenure with the Mets, the Mets had a veteran-laden team that did not need a heavy managing hand- but that is what Bobby V is. The Red Sox are a veteran-laden team that does not need Bobby V's heavy managing hand. If he could just fill out the line-up card and watch, he would do a lot better.
Cpm| 4.17.12 @ 3:07PM
Valentine has been a TV baseball analyst for years and he needs to realize that's not his job anymore. He should remember who butters his bread and keep his analysis in the clubhouse because those are the guys he has to keep motivated.
Occam's Tool| 4.17.12 @ 6:43PM
Winning sounds great. When do we get to?
A Cubs Fan
Steve A| 4.18.12 @ 10:20AM
Did anyone out there happen to see the Rangers dismantle the Sox last night? It was like Varsity vs. JV.
Casey Abell| 4.18.12 @ 12:37PM
This Texas fan saw it and loved every minute. Six home runs. And Youkilis whiffed four times. And the Sox are in last place.
I'm a happy camper.
Crassus| 4.18.12 @ 2:55PM
What's Mike Hargrove doing these days? Maybe the Red Sox can give him a call.