Bobby Valentine has taken a job as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, and he he is looking forward to turning the page and forgetting about the abysmal season he endured with the Boston Red Sox last year. It’s a strange decision for a strange man, but Valentine apparently wanted to add NCAA athletic director to his resume that already includes managing professionally and color commentary.
On Monday, Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald spoke with Valentine about his new gig. However, Bobby V. had no interest in entertaining questions about his 69-win season in Boston.
“I don’t want to comment on stupid things that stupid people say,” he said. “I’m not going to comment on any of that.”
When asked if he was going to miss baseball, Valentine did what he has become an expert with in pulling the sympathy card.
“I won’t miss some of the stuff I had to deal with last year, that’s for sure,” he replied. “We have a baseball team (at Sacred Heart).”
But that’s not the best stuff Valentine has said this week. On Tuesday, Sacred Heart officially introduced their new AD, and naturally there were more questions about the Red Sox. Valentine got into a bit more detail this time, even giving himself a pat on the back for the job he did managing the team.
“I thought I did a hell of a job in Boston,” he told reporters, via WEEI.com. “I thought what had to be done there was done except for winning a pennant. But Connie Mack wasn’t going to win with that team. It’s six months of a 62-year life. It’s six months of a 42-year career in baseball. It’s a blip, a little spot on the radar, as far as I’m concerned.”
What had to be done there is done? Apparently the Red Sox had to go through a 69-win season in order to move forward. Valentine may be right that no manager was going to win with the 2012 Red Sox, but I certainly would not say he did a “hell of a job.”
Unsurprisingly, Valentine still seems bitter about his and the team’s failures together in 2012. It’s unclear if David Ortiz was one of the “stupid people” he is referring to, but Big Papi did pin much of the blame for what happened last year on Bobby V. He also said his former manager has mental issues, so I doubt the two will be sending Christmas Cards to one another this December.
