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Bobby Valentine: Red Sox player complaints ‘unique to that group of guys’ 10.23.12 at 11:02 pm ET
By Alex Speier

Bobby Valentine said he was 'incredulous' about player reactions to some of his instruction methods. (AP)

Former Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, in an interview on “Costas Tonight” on the NBC Sports Network on the same day that John Farrell was introduced as his successor, suggested that he remains “incredulous” that Sox players reacted badly to occurrences such as his suggestion that Kevin Youkilis was not as physically or emotionally invested in the game, his feedback on how Mike Aviles performed in a pop-up drill in spring training and his alleged quip after Will Middlebrooks committed an error.

“The thing with Aviles, it was absolutely mind-boggling. … We were going to have a discussion about it while we were running a drill,” Valentine said. “I just said, ‘Guys, on this matter, this is not a democracy. We’re doing it the way you do it in baseball.’ I did it in a loud voice. Guys came into my office and said, ‘Please, don’t yell at Mike like that.’ … I’m still incredulous.

“Was I surprised that guys came in in that situation [after he critiqued Aviles' work]? Yes. I think … that’s unique to that group of guys. I don’t think it’s indigenous to all of baseball. At least I pray it’s not,” Valentine continued. “It’s not functional with the tail wagging the dog, and taking a vote every time you have to decide how to do things. A leader needs to lead. He leads by forming the pack, patting down the pack and having other people follow. You can’t have the guy at the back of the line coming up and deciding which direction you’re going to go in.”

Valentine described the Youkilis statement as “benign” (agreeing with the assessment of host Costas). He suggested that the Middlebrooks incident — in which members of the Red Sox other than Middlebrooks expressed concern to front-office members that Valentine said, “Nice inning, kid,” to Middlebrooks after a pair of misplays, resulting in owners sharing those concerns to him — did not occur.

“Just because we’re in the fact-checking era,” said Valentine, “I don’t think the thing with Will ever happened. He told me he didn’t remember it, and I didn’t remember it.”

Of his dismissal, Valentine said that he was not surprised, and that he did not experience disappointment upon receiving the news that his tenure with the Red Sox had come to a conclusion after the first season of a two-year deal.

“I was relieved that I was not disappointed,” said Valentine. “It was a real trying season. By September, I knew. There was writing on the wall. We had to have themeeting. We had the meeting and made it official.”

As for where his relationship now stands with the team, Valentine chuckled, “They’d kill me. If I ever say anything, they’d send out a hit man. They’d whack me, and it would be all over.”

He then added, “I worked for some pretty good people. [CEO/president] Larry Lucchino treated me like you want to be treated, and [principal owner] John Henry and [chairman] Tom Werner are super people. it’s not like I would do anything to make their life any more miserable than I already made their life for a season. I think they died almost a hundred times last season.”

Valentine suggested that health was the chief factor in the season’s derailment, and expressed disbelief at suggestions to the contrary.

“[The injury epidemic that resulted in numerous players with All-Star resumes on the DL was] more than I had ever seen. I sat in a meeting one time and it was declared that injuries are not part of the problem,” said Valentine. “Well, they were actually part of the problem.

“I don’t think [the poor conclusion of the season] was destiny. I think it was a lot of lousy stuff happening,” he said. “Once it got rolling down the hill, I always think I can jump out of the bus and stop it in traffic. I couldn’t stop it after that trade.”

That said, he also seemingly accused DH David Ortiz of quitting on the season, suggesting that the slugger made the choice not to return from his strained Achilles injury after the August blockbuster with the Dodgers signaled that the Sox would not compete in 2012.

“David Ortiz came back after spending about six weeks on the disabled list and we thought it was only going to be a week. He got two hits the first two times up, drove in a couple runs; we were off to the races,” Valentine said. “Then he realized that this trade meant that we’re not going to run this race and we’re not even going to finish the race properly and he decided not to play anymore. I think at that time it was all downhill from there.”

Valentine suggested that the team’s 69-93 season was his responsibility.

“I think it was all my fault, because I got paid to have that not happen and it happened,” he said. “So I’ll take the full blame or credit.”

Still, he suggested that he made missteps at the beginning of his run as Red Sox manager related to the selection of a coaching staff that he ultimately suggested had undermined him. Valentine relayed an anecdote about a social meeting with former Cowboys coach Tom Landry, at a time when Valentine was a 35-year-old who was starting his managerial career with the Rangers.

“When he was leaving, it was all social, he grabbed his hat and said, ‘I have some professional advice.’ I said, ‘Please, coach.’ He said, ‘Make sure your coaches speak your language.’ And here I am a gray-haired guy, 25 years of managing later, I should have heeded that advice and made sure that the coaches were going to be the guys that were my guys,” said Valentine. “You know what coaches are? They’re your communication line. Your attitude filters down through the coaches. … [And players'] attitudes, their questions, their times of distress filter up through the coaches. I just think we had some snags, that the lines were not flowing as they should.”

Though Valentine acknowledged that he was rarely a presence in the Red Sox clubhouse, spending most of his time when not on the field in his own office, he denied that was a sign of his disconnection from others in the organization.

“It wasn’t like I was [in the manager's office] alone. I was always there with someone from [GM Ben Cherington's] office,” he said. “One of the assistants is always in the manager’s office, before and after games, that was going on there. I felt in today’s world, and it seemed that it’s true, that that world is the players’ world. The clubhouse is their’s. It’s not the coaches’ or the manager’s.”

Valentine said that he remains available to talk to Farrell about players or matters related to the organization. He said that, when he was fired, he left three envelopes in his office for his successor.

“The first one quickly says, ‘If things go wrong at the beginning, just blame everything on me.’ The second one, if things are still going bad in July or towards the end of the season, open this envelope. When you open that one, it says, ‘Hey blame it on the system that we don’t have enough players, and if you get more players you’ll be able to win,’ ” recounted Valentine. “The third one says, in about a year and a half, if you’re still stinking the way I did, open this envelope. There it says, ‘It’s time to make out three envelopes.’ That’s all the advice I could give him.”

Valentine said that he heard from a number of players after he was fired.

“Most guys wished me well. Some of the texts I got, I actually teared up. It was good stuff,” he said. “This was a journey together. It wasn’t like I was sitting in the office and it was them and me. It was us. And we struggled. We struggled together. As I told hte guys at the end of the seaosn, and many of them texted me and replayed what I said, that they aren’t defined by this season, that they are good guys, good players and good human beings almost straight across the board, and that is what will define them.”

As for whether he will manage again, Valentine told Costas that he would like to do so, but at age 62, he couldn’t say whether or not he’d get another opportunity to do so.

“Depends on who’s hiring,” he said. “I’m sure that’s what they said about Jack McKeon or Davey Johnson.”

As for what he learned about himself during his year as Red Sox manager, and whether he looked at the number of people who reacted strongly to him and determined that he was at fault for the frequency of such reactions, Valentine said, “I’m short at times with people. I’m thinking there and they’re talking here and at times I don’t give them the undivided attention that some people want. …

“One guy said that he didn’t talk to me the entire season. He covered my team the entire season. He said he never talked because in spring training, when he came up and he talked to me, I said, ‘OK,’ shrugged my shoulders and walked away. And that wasn’t a good enough answer for him. That grates people. It is part of me. Yeah.”

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  • redsoxfan45

    I think Valentine told that say boring envelope story in an ESPN thing with Francona when he was hired. I think Valentine is losing his marbles.

  • Timmy T

    Just couldn’t wait until the season was over to do his interview, could he?  It’s always all about Bobby.  I was in the minority that thought he would be terrible in Boston, but I never thought things would get so bad so fast.  Hopefully Farrell and Cherington have something in mind or it will be awhile before the Red Sox are back.

  • lol

     or you might be a moron. Here is what THINKING people learned today. Farrell admitted that the red sox wanted him last off season and he wanted the red sox. But the b-jays would not give him up. This is why the red sox took forever to hire a manager last off season….they were trying to steal Farrell. When they FINALLY realized they could not get Farrell they went and hired a fall guy (bobby V) who NEVER stood a chance. The corporate front office gave the green light to the corporate players to kill Bobby V all season with the help of the corporate dumb fool boston media knowing morons like you would bite. So a innocent hard working baseball man (bobby v) had a year of his life wasted and stupid dumb morons like you made it possible. See how it works? Problem – reaction – solution. I hope you were not born in 45 cause it would be weird to be SCHOOLED on life by someone who was born in 78 LOL. Welcome to reality though LOL.

  • lol

    gotta love the 14-2 yankees over the red sox box score that has nothing to do with anything. WEEI is the Baghdad Bob of sports. All propaganda, NO reality. Pathetic. Anyone who sees through the insanity of WEEI and the red sox will be slandered in one way or another and morons like redsoxfan45 will fall for it. Never forget that Terry Francona is a drug addict and Nomar is selfish. PATHETIC.

  • Anonymous

    bring youk back to play first!!!

  • Lead

    respectfully, i don’t think any intelligent person who has an ounce of self-confidence runs any risk of being educated about life by someone who posts comments like this on ESPN.com.  Bobby Valentine isn’t losing his marbles – he has always been a somewhat unique individual.  The truth of the matter is that the Red Sox had significant injury problems last season, as well as a few bad bets (Matsuzaka, Lackey) who have rarely had injury-free or high-quality seasons for the Sox.  However, this was a team that needed a strong clubhouse presence.  It needed leadership.  By admitting that he was rarely a presence in the clubhouse, Bobby V more or less conceded that he failed to lead.

    i also dislike his penchant for blaming injured players and accusing them of not playing hard.  Kevin Youkilis had a pretty good season for the White Sox once he regained his health, and David Ortiz was on his way to an outstanding season.  He sat out the last month of the season on the advice of the Red Sox medical staff.   As a “hardworking baseball man,” Valentine should be ashamed of himself for his misguided comments about these ballplayers, both of whom have a reputation for working hard at their craft.

    Valentine clearly was not the man for this job.  I wish him well but won’t miss him.  We can do better.  @LOL – by all accounts, Nomar Garciaparra had a notoriously well-honed work ethic as a player.  He is apparently a good husband and a good father.  He has given more time and money to charitable causes than you probably will in your lifetime.  Spare us the empty stereotypes.   

  • lead

    oops, WEEI.com.  no matter.

  • Sox Fan

    Hiring Bobby V was a mistake from Day 1.  The game has passed him by.  After the Sept collapse last year they should have gotten serious, not hire a bumbling fool.  Management has to earn back my trust… so will pass on tickets again next year (this year was the first season ever I didn’t go to Fenway).  The big 3 threw Terry Francona under the bus and didn’t take ANY responsibility for the collapse of the team… so arrogant and sad. Get it together guys and lets get this team back on track (no, not the race track).  

    BTW, one thing that will help is, although everyone thinks Ellsbury leaving is a given, I disagree.  I think they will surprise us and sign him to a long term deal… because John Henry loves him.  While injuries have hurt his luster… predict this guy will turn out just fine.    

  • http://twitter.com/theHooHaagroove HooHaa

    AH so BobbyV doesn’t remember the Middlebrooks incident; then why was he the one who publicized it in the first place? Go away Bobby and enjoy the fact you will never work in baseball again.

  • Vincetamm49

    Look enough the Red Sox insisted on hiring him. Injuries were a factor, and anyone that doesn’t think so is in denial. After the trade they were basically playing with a few mediocre veterans, and Pawtucket, and no pitching. I am surprised they won 63 games. Reminded me of the 50 and 60′s sox were the mantra was wait until next year.

  • Karl

    I wondered how long that blowhard would wait before spouting off. As far as anything he says, CONSIDER THE SOURCE!

  • Anonymous

    Apostrophe catastrophe.

    “The clubhouse is their’s. ”
    *theirs

    Aren’t we supposed to be able to count on our writers and editors to be able to spell correctly?

  • Dagodess

    At this point, I could really give a crap what Valentine thinks about anything.  He’s trying to save face and hope that someone else (team or network) hires him.

  • Blusignan

    Nobody is interested in hearing any of his ridiculous comments  that usually have 22 diff meanings
    therefore he should just pack his bags and ZIP IT UP

  • Dano_in_NY

    can’t believe the management would sabotage even 1 season…

  • Anonymous

    Bobby V was a HOF-type player before he got a gruesome injury, a brilliant coach who is known to wear out the other teams’ benches and bullpens, was a great commentator on TV, and had success as a manager even in Japan, want to talk about spanning cultures with communication?  He is a little conceited, but hey, that would only be an issue if the rest wasn’t true.  He suffered here from a bad team, injuries, veteran’s scandal, not his own pitching coach, inscrutable dropoffs in performance (A-Gon), lack of the anchor DH, loss of closer and setup man performance, short contract without his own coaches and over-scrutiny and expectations.  I mean, c’mon, it wasn’t Manny and Ortiz batting 3 and 4.  He should have had a longer leash but it maybe wasn’t possible with short-tempered fans and legacy expectations.  Accomplishments: he designed and used a great bullpen, see if Tampa, Baltimore, or the Yanks could have used it.  He developed 2 young starters.  And selflessly shut them down when it was better for them.  The Ortiz thing shouldn’t have been said by Bobby but like most things it was probably true because Bobby V is the opposite of stupid.  But playing poltiics by keeping quiet and bowing out maybe would have been better for him.  His interview was mostly really thoughtful, it maybe wasn’t intended.

  • Jim Piersall

    Hiring Valentine was one of a long list of screw-ups orchestrated by Lucchino and company.  It started with not extending Tito, which made him a lame duck, which in turn led to him losing the clubhouse.  He and Theo spent a fortune on players who didn’t fit in Boston.  Theo left and he over-ruled the new GM;s choice of managers and hired a screwball who hadn’t managed in the majors in a decade.

    There is no way that Bobby V. should have ever been hired for this or any other MLB managing job, but Lucchino hired him anyway.  Luicchino is the root of all incompetence.

  • Rhelob

    I like John Farrell and I hope he’s able to get the Boston Red Sox to play .500 baseball in 2013. That’s my expectation of this team next year.

  • Nate

     What a delusional clown.

  • Boslad

    It was a bad marriage from the very beginning. Bobby Valentines ego and abrasive personality were the two factors that assured his failure as manager of the Red Sox. In New York, one his nick names was “Top Step Bobby” because of his habit of making it all about him, which he did on a consistent basis during his short tenure as manager of the Red Sox. 

  • Doug

    I wanted the Red Sox to sign Valentine, I admit I was wrong in the overall sense.  He was completely off base the whole season, making the goofy mistakes constantly, not admitting them, just making an idiotic reply in response to a question regarding those mistakes.  I quickly realized he was not the right man and perhaps should have been let go a lot earlier, I don’t like Farrell either for the way he let things go in Toronto, but I’ve got to accept this because I’m 68 and will stick with the Red Sox until I die, I just hope we can get one more World Series Title, if not, I’m happy as I can die in peace, just like the book title.  I pay no mind to what Capt Queeg says anymore, I realized that he is just like the ficitonal character, he’s adrift & going around in circles with no idea of how to get his bearings, the poor man is lost and that is readily evident.

  • Doug

    Another big mistake if that happens!  We got rid of the selfish cry babies, no more! Got rid of some cancers’ and he was a big cancer on this club.

  • Doug

    I remember Bobby after 9/11, he and his players worked hard to help, I think Bobby has a good heart and he;s a good guy, but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he did more harm than good for this club, I wanted him to manage but I fess up for my mistake. it’s history now, wait til next season, GO RED SOX!!!!!!!!!!

  • Doug

    Good post, I really do hope we keep Ellsbury, I think we’ll have a good team this coming season, Lackey ought to win 15-17, Clay will not start the season with a bad back, Lester supposedly gets along with Farrell real good, lets see Farrell help Jon to a great season., Dubrondt had a dues paying season, he will have benefitted a lot from that, he’s a keeper, we get one or to big innings eaters and we’ll be fine, get a big banger to go along with Ortiz, lets hope Kalish is healthy and see what he’ll do, I hope Iggy is finally ready to hit at the big league level.

  • Doug

    Yeah, he must be a pathalogical liar, after accusing Will of “nice inning” to let him down easy he said when I was a plyer with the Dodgers I made 3 errors in an inning, the fans were throwing seat cushions at me and booing etc, etc.  Bobby is just one lie after another.

  • Doug

    Another good post, I remember those years and you have a good point, I think the Red Sox have collectively one of the worst FO in baseball, well maybe I’ll have to re consider that remark after the Brinks Heist of the Dodgers, but if Leaping Larry were out of the mix, we’d do better, that is a given.

  • Doug

    No, and you must have majored in Nitpicking and Hair splitting in school?

  • Doug

    No, he”s not that naive, he knows nobody will hire him.

  • Doug

    You are far from reality is you think he was a good announcer & manager, he was at the bottom of the list in both professions, the game has passed him by, sad but true, he has a lot of good qualities, but they seldom showed this last season, he was hampered by injuries, there can be no doubt about that, then the trade put a crusher on even finishing .500, in that respect he was doomed, but his own mistakes and communicating was the chief factor in getting himself fired.

  • Anonymous

    Nope. But I did pay attention in fourth grade when they taught apostrophe usage and possessives. Also, although I’ll certainly take the credit for nitpicking (no capitalization), I must point out that there is no hairsplitting (single, compound word; no capitalization) going on, because there is only one correct way to form the possessive here. With only one way, there is no unnecessarily fine distinction to make. It’s a glaring distinction. “Their’s” is incorrect. “Theirs” is correct. No hairsplitting.

    Communications professionals should not be making that kind of error. We are not animals. Our spoken and written language sets us apart. It’s important.

  • Bunts

    Love the fact that Farrell wears #52 ….. or the exact opposite of BV’s #25….. Hoping thats more than just a coincidence!

  • Nomar

    I wish someone would ask Valentine, to explain what did he really expect to gain out of making the negative comments to the press, on Youk? I doubt he can give a logical reason….He was just bringing attention to himself for no apparent reason. He was a goofy, in over his head, transparent leader of 25 men…I have no idea how Lucchino was impressed with this guy last off-season…At this time in his life, this guy simply does not possess managerial abilities…he would mess up wherever he would manage….McDonalds, convienient stores, Wallmart..etc…., etc.   

  • Fleecemon

    Yeah and get Yaz and Pudge while you’re at it.

  • http://twitter.com/actiontoyxpress ATX

    SIGN WELKER!!!!!!!!

  • Anonymous

    The fact that Welker signed elsewhere pisses me off less than the report of the Pats not offering him a contract as of yesterday afternoon. Brady can’t be happy.

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