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| Bobby Valentine seems tired ... or asleep. (US Presswire) |
WEEI's Alex Speier has written an eye-opener of a piece on Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine.
Valentine, of course, has presided over what's been an on-the-field and off-the-field embarrassment, and his failures are made worse by his none-too-subtle critiques of his predecessor, Terry Francona. Given everything that's gone on, it would be decidedly unsurprising if Valentine is relieved of his duties this winter. If his comments are any guide, then Valentine may already be resigned to his fate.
Consider what Valentine did prior to Friday's game. Speier writes:
On Friday, for instance, he showed up at the ballpark less than three hours before the first pitch -- hours after a manager typically makes his way to the ballpark in order to guarantee his preparedness and ensure his availability to his players and coaches.
That's bad enough. But then consider what Valentine said on Saturday when asked about Scott Podsednik's being inexplicably penciled into the third spot in the order:
"Just a mistake. Is that what it says on the lineup? What the (expletive)? Switch it up. Who knows? Maybe it will look good. I haven’t seen it."
There's not overreacting to things, and then there's not giving a hint of a damn. Valentine, it would seem, squarely exemplifies the latter. Yes, it's a lost season, but if this is Valentine's present level of involvement -- a "dereliction of duties" level of involvement -- then he doesn't deserve to manage out the string.
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