Stormy Days: Valentine Watch is On After Just Three Weeks
This weekend, the Red Sox and all of Major League Baseball celebrated the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park. The team welcomed some of the biggest names in the team’s history back to the ballpark for a grand event. Johnny Pesky and Bobby Doerr joined almost 200 other players and coaches to pay tribute to the grand American institution. Yaz, Luis Tiant, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Mo Vaughn and Bill Buckner were among those thrilling the fans. Terry Francona received a huge ovation.
The feel-good mentality carried over into the early frames as the Red Sox built a 9-0 lead against the grossly ineffective Freddy Garcia and a pair of relievers before Mark Teixeira finally broke through with a solo home run in the sixth inning. The Yankees then exploded for seven runs in the seventh inning and another seven runs in the eight inning to leave Valentine flummoxed.
He actually used the term “hit bottom” to describe the team and the situation following the 15-9 defeat. Seriously, he used the term “rock bottom” after 14 games (4-10).
- What happens if this doesn’t shift in the next several weeks and we’re looking at a .400 winning percentage come Memorial Day?
- What’s below “hit bottom?”
- Does he even get a chance to stay that long if things don’t improve this week against the Twins and White Sox?
Valentine received a short-term reprieve on Sunday when inclement weather canceled the finale of the three-game set against New York, but that’s no solution. The calls for his head are coming through loud and clear, with reports of riffs with several members of the team coming in the wake of his public comments about Kevin Youkilis.
We knew that we’d get some tidbits from Valentine as the season progressed. I just didn’t know that we’d be at such an elevated level in April.
