Valentine has officially been "hired" as the next manager of the Boston Red Sox. I use "hired" in quotes because it was more like he got the job by process of elimination. After Sveum was
swooped up by the Chicago Theos, Mike Maddux bowed out graciously, Alomar and Louvullo mysteriously fell off the face of the earth, and Gene Lamont's 15 seconds of fame were up...all that remained was Bobby V.
Now, I'm not trying to make it out like the man was the last human being on this planet with any sliver of coaching experience, and the Sox were "stuck" with him. No way. If anything, Bobby V had what all of the other candidates didn't have: a veteran coaching resume with championship winning success. Ok, ok. So the championship he won was with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pacific League. Asia series, not the World Series. Still, Bobby V has the track record of taking his ballclubs far into the postseason. In 2000, his lovable loser Mets made it all the way to the actual World Series - only to get pushed aside by the unlovable loser Yankees.
When it comes to knowledge of the game, not a lot of people know the sport like he does. As an analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight for the past few years, Bobby V has shared his experiences with the viewers and given everybody a chance to see what the sport is like from the inside out.
His tenure at ESPN only magnified his level of likeability in the eyes of America. Sure, we will always have the famous 1999 Mustache incident (one of my favorite sports moments of all time). But there's something about his half-neurotic, half-quirky personality that we got to see on a daily basis that became contagious. (Plus, he fought Herm Edwards. )
There you have it. He's experienced, knowledgeable and likeable. So what's wrong with Bobby V?
For the Red Sox, everything.
For one, he hasn't managed in a few years - and hasn't managed in the MLB since 2002. We'd like to think coach-turned-analyst-turned-coach can work out, but just ask Barry Melrose how that went. Ok, ok, the NHL is a different beast, so we can't compare apples to oranges. But let's see how long Buck Showalter lasts in that black hole that is Baltimore.
Sure, unlike Showalter, Bobby V is coming into a franchise that was built to be a playoff contender year in and year out. And with a payroll in the top 5 of MLB, the manager should have an easier time coasting right through 162 games and into October...right?
Wrong.
In 2002, the Valentine-led Mets' payroll ranked 6th in the league at $94.6 million. The team was stacked with should-be all-stars like Mike Piazza, Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar, Rey Ordonez...even my boy John Valentin was soaking up some playing time. They had just won the pennant two years earlier and enjoying 5 straight years of plus-500 baseball. Then came the reports of marijuana abuse and unruliness in the clubhouse. The team struggled, missed the playoffs, and Bobby V was fired - with the explanation from the front office being that Valentine couldn't control his team in the clubhouse. Sound familiar?
Then there was Japan. Valentine enjoyed success for the first few years there, even managing to capture a title. Then, in 2009, he was forced out by the club president - even under heavy support from local fans.
As much as I love the guy, there's something in my gut that says this isn't the right pick. Not now, not for this team. This is a Sox club that last year proved themselves to be nothing more than a bunch of overpaid spoiled brats. And we're summoning Bobby Valentine in to come change that collective mindset? If anything, Valentine will only make this team more susceptible to that type of behavior. History hasn't shown me a reason to believe otherwise.
He was revered in Flushing for a few years before getting flushed out. Just like he was revered in Chiba City for a few years before getting chased out. How long until he's tossed out with the tea in Boston?
