Kim Klement – US Presswire
I’m not for beating a guy when he’s down, but I’m going to make an assumption here. Boston Red Sox former manager Bobby Valentine let baseball down this season.
Forget the fact that the Red Sox were terrible this season and performed way under expectations. This happens every year to multiple teams and mangers. I’m not even talking about the multiple sound bites of Valentine threatening to punch someone or sounding a bratty child. I get it, Valentine comes off as a jerk. Hey, he may even be as big a jerk as he sounds.
Most recently, Valentine threw his coaches under the bus when he said in a radio interview he didn’t think his coaches were loyal. Maybe they weren’t loyal, but it’s probably not the way to go out.
The reason Valentine let baseball down is because he quit on his team, the fans, and the Red Sox organization. The Red Sox were a terrible team, but you never quit. Since managers don’t play on the field you have to judge them on how hard the players play for them. Red Sox players quit way before the season ended Wednesday.
Say what you want about the Baltimore Orioles and how terrible they were the last 14 seasons (before this season of course), but Buck Showalter had his players playing hard until the final day. Despite winning just 69 games last season, the Orioles played hard all 162 games.
The Orioles made last season’s final night historic. Despite another losing season, Showalter led the Orioles to a 15-13 record in September last season. The same can’t be said for Valentine’s Red Sox.
Valentine and his team quit this season. Who know when exactly it happened, but it happened. It shouldn’t happen. Player and managers are paid good money and they should have pride. The Red Sox rolled over in September and baseball got hurt because of it.
In August the Red Sox went 9-20, in September 7-19, and in October 0-3. I get that the Red Sox were basically putting their Triple A team out on the field. Their best players were all traded or hurt. This is no excuse. The Orioles and Oakland Athletics were thought to have terrible teams this season. Look at their rosters. Showalter and Bob Melvin got the most out of their teams. Valentine rolled over and quit.
Valentine is no Showalter. If he was, the Red Sox would have played with some pride at the end of this season. Unfortunately baseball and its fans were hurt because of it.
