Larry Brown Sports

Last week, a report surfaced that discussed the possibility that Bobby Valentine is losing the Red Sox clubhouse. Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com cited an unnamed player who said Valentine doesn’t have the support of “anyone” in the clubhouse. He was also told that Adrian Gonzalez and a couple of other players don’t communicate with Valentine.

Dustin Pedroia was also mentioned in the story because of an incident in Chicago where Valentine came out of the dugout for a mound visit and Pedroia was the only member of the infield to not partake in the discussion. Prior to Thursday’s game against the White Sox, Pedey explained what happened.

“I swallowed my dip, man,” he told reporters according to WEEI. “Bobby came out and right when I went to take a step I went to take my dip out and I (expletive) swallowed it. Man down. I chilled out right there. David (Ortiz) was playing first base and he said, ‘What the (expletive) is wrong with you?’ I told him, ‘I swallowed my dip, man.’”

Pedroia, who was very vocal in sticking up for Kevin Youkilis earlier in the season, went on to say that him and Valentine “get along great.” Swallowing your tobacco can’t be a comfortable feeling, and I’m sure Mike Napoli could tell us all about that.

With Cody Ross’s walk-off home run Thursday night, the Red Sox took three out of four from the White Sox. Assuming David Ortiz doesn’t miss a ton of time, the team seems to be getting healthy and showing signs of life. If they revert to losing, we’ll hear all about how none of the players respect Valentine. If they can keep the momentum that they have started to build in the second half going, everyone will talk about how Valentine is doing a tremendous job.

H/T Hardball Talk
Photo credit: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Youkilis is returning to Fenway Park on Monday for the first time since being traded from the Red Sox to the White Sox three weeks ago. In anticipation of Youkilis’ return, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine was asked on Sunday if there was friction between the two. Based on his reaction, it’s safe to say Valentine still has friction with Youk.

“I think that’s a joke,” Valentine told the media, per the Boston Globe. “I wasn’t here last year. There was no friction in spring training. So I think that’s a joke. But I’ll take all that. I think the comment that I made early, he made a big issue out of and I don’t think he ever wanted to get over it.”

Valentine questioned Youkilis’ commitment early in the season, setting the stage for Youkilis being traded months later.

Valentine was asked how his relationship was with Youkilis after the making those comments.

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The Bobby Valentine hiring by the Red Sox seemed like a bad idea from the start. Last November, days after it was reported that the Sox were hiring the former ESPN analyst to replace Terry Francona, a report came out saying players were unhappy with the hiring. Valentine took a shot at Terry Francona in February, and by March he already reportedly was in his first big power struggle. This is all before the season began, mind you.

Valentine then called out Kevin Youkilis early in the season and he lost some of the respected vets because of it. And on Thursday night, Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston wrote a report detailing some of the supposed dysfunction within the Red Sox organization and the dislike many players have for Valentine.

Edes mentions a bullpen coach that has little communication with Valentine, and he says Adrian Gonzalez and a few others don’t communicate with the manager much.

One player told Edes that Valentine doesn’t have the support of “anyone” in the clubhouse, but another player reportedly has “come around” on the manager.

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One of the reasons Daisuke Matsuzaka has failed to pitch deep into games since joining the Red Sox is that he walks so many hitters. While he has pitched rather effectively in his first MLB season, Yu Darvish has had a similar issue. According to Bobby Valentine, that isn’t a coincidence.

Valentine recently said that Japanese pitchers strive to get to a 3-2 count, as any pitch when there is a full count is considered the “pitch of reckoning.” While he says this is the way the rule book literally lays the game out, I find it hard to believe that any pitcher who understands the rules of baseball would rather get himself into a full count than get ahead of a hitter 0-2. The concept of the “payoff pitch” is exciting in the MLB, but it’s far more difficult for a hitter to be behind in the count. Then again, Valentine did spend a lot of time in Japan. He would know better than I would.

Photo credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

The Red Sox are sliding once again, and Bobby Valentine has decided to take his frustration out on the league’s umpires. Valentine was unhappy with a number of calls during Boston’s series against Miami over the weekend, and he was ejected on Sunday for arguing balls and strikes. On Monday, he sounded off on the umpiring and came awfully close to calling for an automated balls and strikes system.

“When I did the Little League World Series (for ESPN), I thought it was the most criminal thing I ever saw, I wanted to cry, when a kid, in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and his team down by one run, was called out on a strike three that was six inches outside,” Valentine said according to CSNNE.com. “He couldn’t reach it with his bat. I cried for him. And that kid is scarred for life, playing our game, by an injustice.

“And then someone says the most ridiculous words that I ever hear: ‘But we like the human factor.’ It was criminal that we allow our game to scar a young person like that. And then it continues on. I think, in 2012, it should not be part of the process. I don’t think it should be.”

Valentine was reminded that humans make mistakes and stopped just barely short of saying that umpires should be removed in favor of an automated system of calling balls and strikes.

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It could be a complete coincidence, but the Red Sox have played particularly well since David Ortiz called a players-only meeting for the team back on May 11. Since that day, Boston has gone 12-5 — their best stretch of baseball this season. The most obvious reason for Ortiz’s meeting was that his team was well under .500 and playing horribly. As we recently found out, another reason may have been that he was tired of the way his teammates were treating their new manager.

“I was feeling really bad about Bobby the way things were going and it was because I can see the frustration on his face,” Ortiz said according to ESPNBoston.com. “His hands were tied because he was trying to do things to help us out and it wasn’t working, but it wasn’t his fault. We weren’t executing, so at the end of the day the manager gets blamed, but it’s not his fault. He might make a move, but we need to execute.

“I saw his frustrations and I felt like s***. Part of the reason why is we need to get together and talk about things and chat about things as players, because players make great managers but you need to play well for that to happen.”

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Bobby Valentine earned his first ejection as Red Sox manager Friday night. And, boy, was it a doozy. Valentine came out to argue a close play at first base as the Sox were trying to mount a late comeback in the ninth against the Phillies. Umpire Gary Darling disposed of Valentine before long, but not until Bobby V got an incidental face full of Darling’s Bazooka gum mid-expletive. Enjoy:

Here’s another look at the Great Gum Exchange. Valentine’s reaction is amazing:

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