Murray Chass unloads on Bobby Valentine. He gets into Bobby’s head about the Daniel Bard start where Dan was left in the game too long:
Valentine acknowledged that his decision to leave Bard in the game was wrong, explaining, “When the inning started, he looked good, he got the two quick outs, he got two strikes on the next two guys. I committed at that time he was going to finish the inning or at least try to finish it. It didn’t happen.”
But there could be another explanation, one that would fit the Machiavellian motives of the manipulating Mr. Valentine. What if he left Bard in the game long enough to look bad and show the general manager who was right? Walk, single, walk, walk in a scoreless game.
Most managers like to remove a pitcher, especially a young or inexperienced one, when he can still feel good about himself and his game. Bard can remember his 6 2/3 shutout innings, but the three walks will dominate his mind. That memory will be discouraging, not encouraging.
Do I have any evidence or anyone else’s opinion that my suspicion has validity? I do not, but Valentine watchers know the kind of games he plays, and his Bard decision fits snugly into his modus operandi.
There’s much more, including a comparison of Todd Hundley and Kevin Youkilis. Murray clearly does not like Valentine, and from reading Twitter, Red Sox fans are not happy, either.
At least Ben Cherington has the class to take some of the blame:
“The players will always influence wins and losses more than anybody else,” Cherington said. “That’s no different here. He’s doing the best he can with the roster he has. It’ll get better. He knows that, and I know that. Along the way, if changes need to be made on the roster, that’s my responsibility.”
Bobby, however, was supposed to be a motivator after the calm Terry Francona left. So far, the motivation isn’t working.
If a 7-20 finish got the great old manager fired, I’m hoping a 7-20 start gets the mouthy new manager who likes to lead off the guy with the worst career OBP on the team fired.
I honestly don’t know why anybody pays attention to Murray Chass. His presence in the Hall lessons the prestige of the Spink award for everyone else who’s ever gotten it. The king of all hacks. Please don’t encourage him by linking to his ridiculous theories. He may have been a real reporter once, but now he’s just a crazy old man with a blog.
Grins. Not only is Chass a “crazy old man with a blog,” but he’s a blogger who hates bloggers!
http://www.murraychass.com/?page_id=23
“This is a site for baseball columns, not for baseball blogs. The proprietor of the site is not a fan of blogs. He made that abundantly clear on a radio show with Charley Steiner when Steiner asked him what he thought of blogs and he replied, “I hate blogs.” He later heartily applauded Buzz Bissinger when the best-selling author denounced bloggers on a Bob Costas HBO show.”
Interesting article here as well on Bobby V.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/boston-v-villain-bobby-valentine-managing-a-short-stay-red-sox-article-1.1065385#ixzz1sokpesCr
“And this doesn’t include the near player revolt he had on his hands the very first week of spring training when, the Daily News has learned, he got all over shortstop Mike Aviles in what sources described as “a very ugly scene” during infield drills. After a group of Red Sox players confronted him with outrage, Valentine had to apologize to Aviles.”
Bobby V’s a poison from what I can see. Also, not impressed at all with his lineups and in game management. He does dumb things hoping it works (and in baseball it does sometimes) so he can look like a genius. Bobby V’s praise him when silly stuff works (leading off Punto), and excuse him when it does not (letting his loogy pitch to RHB’ers with ROB in close games, leaving in Bard for 111 picthes despite the fact he was clearly tanked, etc).