52 replies to this topic

[Wilfrid]

Just realised we needed a thread with the appropriate year in the subtitle.

Statistic of the day, Boston's Mark Melancon's ERA. 49.50. Wow.

Maybe Red Sox Just Aren’t Very Good

[Lex]

If the Yankees beat the Red Sox up this weekend they help themselves and turn up the heat on Valentine. I call that a win-win.

[Lex]

From an article in today's Times

Maybe Red Sox Just Aren’t Very Good

Valentine has been more subdued since questioning Youkilis’s effort in a television interview Sunday, a slight for which he apologized. Normally candid, he now seems inhibited, if not by the Youkilis fallout, then by the stiffness of the setting. The formality of the interview room, the standard place here for pre- and postgame manager briefings, makes Valentine seem caged and reduced to platitudes.

Sure. After 20 years of mouthing off Bobby V is suddenly intimidated by microphones.

Hey. I have another explanation. Maybe Red Sox management told him to shut the fuck up.

God, I love watching Valentine implode.

[Lex]

They ran this ad during the amazing Yankee comeback over the Red Sox on Saturday. It we very well received in the Brooklyn bar where we were watching the game.

[Wilfrid]

This weekend in Boston it has been much better to be Terry Francona, whose bald head has glimmered in the afternoon sunlight, than Bobby Valentine, for whom the manager’s office that Francona fit so well for eight curse-killing, history-making years has already turned into a dim bunker.

NYT

[Lex]

From ESPN -

If there was any doubt as to who the vox populi hold responsible for the disgraceful start to a season of supposed renewal, it was erased in the eighth inning Saturday afternoon. Boos came cascading down on Valentine as he slowly walked to the mound to take out Alfredo Aceves, who had been summoned to protect a 9-8 lead in the eighth and had allowed all six batters he faced to reach base.

Aceves' retreat to the dugout went uncommented upon by the crowd of 37,839. But when Valentine made his way back, the boos accompanied his every step.

The consensus by sports writers is that much of the team's bad performance isn't Valentine's fault. His bullpen sucks. That's true. It's also true that life isn't fair, but it's not as if Valentine is some rosary praying innocent in all of this. The man loves the spotlight and craves attention. He also never met a microphone he didn't like.

He's a polarizing character and when things go bad, they're the ones who take the hit.

[ghostrider]

Did you notice Bobby's little tip of the cap to the fans on that walk back to the dugout?

[Lex]

Did you notice Bobby's little tip of the cap to the fans on that walk back to the dugout?

Near the close of his Mets career John Franco got booed as he came off the mound ofter one of his infrequent bad outings. Johnny is a Brooklyn boy who went to St. John's and then moved to Staten Island. As he the boos came down he looked up and gave the fans the finger. A lot of people laughed and he got some cheers. The fans didn't hold a grudge. Neither did Johnny.

[Wilfrid]

You can't blame Valentine for the team being short two starters, a closer, an experienced relief pitcher, and an entire outfield.

But you can blame him for acting like Bobby Valentine.

I can only assume that the Red Sox Nation spent yesterday evening praying for rain.

[Lex]

You can't blame Valentine for the team being short two starters, a closer, an experienced relief pitcher, and an entire outfield.

But you can blame him for acting like Bobby Valentine.

The scene outside of Fenway Park late last night -

Onward to the Castle Valentine!!!




To provide a contrast, look at ex Mets manager Jerry Manuel. He's a smart and funny guy. Genial. The media liked him and so did the fans. When the Mets began to head south people never called for his head. They knew he didn't have the players to win and besides, poor Jerry had to manage tomato cans like Ollie Perez and Luis Castillo. In spite of that he never got booed like Valentine has, 2 weeks into the season.

[Wilfrid]

No team in the history of baseball needed a rainout more than the Red Sox did yesterday. A major soaker of a storm came up the Eastern seaboard, washing out the game by mid-afternoon, much to the disappointment of thousands of viewers who were dying to hear what new ESPN commentator Terry Francona might have to say...

Grantland

[Rich]

They ran this ad during the amazing Yankee comeback over the Red Sox on Saturday. It we very well received in the Brooklyn bar where we were watching the game.

The only problem is when the lefthanded kid hits a homer to left field, the announcer calls it being hit to right field. Reminds me of "Field of Dreams" making Shoeless Joe Jackson a right-handed hitter.

[Wilfrid]

"Is that an osprey?"

[Lex]

Magnificent meltdowns.

http://espn.go.com/v...egoryid=2378529

[Wilfrid]

You can't blame Valentine for the team being short two starters, a closer, an experienced relief pitcher, and an entire outfield.

But you can blame him for acting like Bobby Valentine.

The scene outside of Fenway Park late last night -

Onward to the Castle Valentine!!!

Oh dear, oh dear. Stop. It's even better than I'd hoped.