Red Sox Waste No Time, Firing Bobby Valentine Less Than A Day After The Season Ended

Well that didn't take long. Haha roughly 14 hours since their regular season officially ended last night in the Bronx, the Red Sox acted swiftly this afternoon to fire manager Bobby Valentine. The funny thing about the move is that it was a foregone conclusion since basically when they signed him to a two-year deal last winter. One of the only interesting parts of this summer was debating who the next Red Sox manager would be and that is no way to live.

I can never recall seeing a coach in professional sports in New England that was more overwhelmed by all the day to day duties of his job. I don't know if it's because the game had completely passed him by, his age or what but this whole entire season was a complete joke and you could never get away from that fact. Every awkward press conference, interview session and shots of him in the dugout made you almost feel bad for Bobby V. That is if he wasn't one of the biggest egomaniacs in the world.

We have to make sure to quell our temporary joy over this move since while it feels good to kick him to the curb, the real question is who GM Ben Cherington, team president Larry Lucchino and owners John Henry and Tom Werner choose next? On the one hand, they literally couldn't pick someone more incompetent or less ready to handle the rigors of a big market, high-pressure team that is undergoing a massive rebuilding project. Then again, if they made that terrible decision last year to hire Valentine, who's to say they won't completely whiff again?

Valentine was an embarrassment to the Red Sox and fans and it would be a waste of all our time to run through the litany of mistakes and head-scratching moves he made in his short stay here. All you have to know is that Boston finished in last place in the AL East for the first time since 1992 and 69-93 was their worst overall record since 1965. It is doubtful that anybody could have wrung much more out of that historically awful team but there is only one way to go now: up in the standings while slowly bringing back interest in the team.

Getting rid of him was only step one in a long process that also has to include bringing in much better players, namely pitchers, and building some semblance of a team. You know, a group of guys with chemistry. Like the A's, Orioles, Reds or Giants to name a few. Look around at the teams left standing in the MLB playoffs this October and you realize how far away the Red Sox were from the playoffs in many aspects.

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Goodnight To The Worst Red Sox Team Of My Lifetime

Well the time that we've all been dreaming of since about mid-May is finally upon us: the 2012 Red Sox' tour of pain is over. We won't see them again until April in a meaningful game and not a moment too soon at that.

Fittingly, for Daisuke Matsuzaka's (1-7) last outing as a Red Sox (69-93, 35-46) and Bobby Valentine's final night as an MLB manager, both were thoroughly embarrassed as New York (95-67, 51-30 home) trampled Boston 14-2 at Yankee Stadium. It clinched the third AL East title in four years for the Yankees and 18th overall after the Rays beat the Orioles 4-1.

Now is when the real fun starts, we can only hope that the Red Sox owners and GM Ben Cherington come up with a better choice than Valentine. Then again, who could possibly be a worse pick? It is horrifying that last winter, after months of deliberation, that clown was their hire.

Dice-K didn't stick around long, he probably had a flight back to Japan to catch. In 2.1 innings, he allowed five earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts, a walk and two homers.

Hiroki Kuroda (16-11) went seven innings (2 earned runs, 7 hits, 4 strikeouts, 2 walks) for the Yankees, who will host the winner of Orioles-Rangers starting on Sunday in the ALDS.

It was a monster night for Robinson Cano (4 for 4, 3 runs, 6 RBIs, 2 homers) and Curtis Granderson (2 homers, 4 RBIs). Nick Swisher was 2 for 3 with a run, RBI and two walks while Alex Rodriguez (2 for 3, double, 2 runs, 2 walks) and Ichiro Suzuki (2-run double, 2 runs) contributed to the laugher for the Yanks.

Cody Ross was 2 for 3 with an RBI single, Pedro Ciriaco was 2 for 3 with a double and run while Dustin Pedroia had a double, walk and stolen base. In the near future (possibly tomorrow) after I have some time to breath and wash the stink away from this incomprehensibly bad season, I plan to write a post highlighting the few Red Sox that had good seasons (hint: those three play prominent roles). Jose Iglesias also had an RBI single, hopefully that gives him some confidence heading into the winter.

Until then, let's hope that a Men In Black type mind eraser device exists and that we can all use it to get rid of all our memories having to do with the 2012 Red Sox. They were truly the most hateable Boston sports team that I've ever seen and it would be tough to top them in that particular way.

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Red Sox Piss Another Season Down The Drain, Misery Continues In Baltimore

Aaron Cook had a no-hitter entering the sixth inning and the Red Sox led the Orioles 2-0. As quick as you could say, no October baseball at Fenway, Baltimore scored five runs en route to a 5-3 win tonight at Camden Yards.

Boston (57-61, 28-27 away) latest slide all but guarantees that September will be completely meaningless. There is no chance this team will push for a playoff spot, at this point they are going to struggle to finish over .500 and in front of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Baltimore (64-53, 32-28 home) only had six hits but they made them count by going 4 for 13 with runners in scoring position. The Red Sox were 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position while they both left six men on base.

The uniquely terrible aspects to this loss for Boston included a throwing error by Cook that led to three runs plus the ejections of Adrian Gonzalez and Bobby Valentine. After Pedro Strop quick pitched Gonzo in the eighth then got him to ground out, the normally church mouse quiet first baseman sort of showed some emotion. Valentine came out to defend him/fire up his worthless team but you can see from the final score how that went.

Cook (3-6) went 5.1 innings, allowing five runs (two earned) on three hits with one strikeout and three walks.

Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez (5-2) went six innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Baltimore's bullpen locked it down, especially Strop who had a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts for his 20th hold and closer Jim Johnson who notched his 35th save with a clean ninth including a strikeout.

Jacoby Ellsbury's (2 hits) RBI double and Carl Crawford's sacrifice fly scored Nick Punto (2 runs) staked the Red Sox to a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning.

The Orioles sixth included an RBI single by Nate McLouth, Adam Jones grounded into a fielder's choice and Cook threw the ball away which allowed J.J. Hardy to score, Matt Wieters had an RBI double and Mark Reyonlds ended it with a two-run double.

All Boston could muster after Baltimore's big sixth inning was an RBI ground out by Crawford in the seventh.

Clay Buchholz (10-3) is all that stands in the way of a three-game sweep by the Orioles tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN) as he takes on Chris Tillman (5-2). The only question is how will the Red Sox find a new and different way to lose?

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Shooting For The Stars: Will The Red Sox Finish In 3rd For The Third Straight Season?

So here we are again: it feels like only yesterday that the Boston Red Sox were blowing one final game (to the Baltimore Orioles) and polishing off one of the worst collapses in MLB history last October.

There have been plenty of changes to the Red Sox since then although I think pretty much all of them are downgrades. Theo Epstein went to the Cubs and now Ben Cherington (Theo 2.0) is Boston's GM. Terry Francona was run out of town and replaced by Bobby Valentine, one of the biggest blowhards in professional sports that most recently was a commentator on ESPN's MLB coverage. Jonathan Papelbon wasn't resigned so he went to Philadelphia, who was more than happy to pay him. In his place, the Red Sox traded for A's closer Andrew Bailey. He might not even see the field this season for the Red Sox since he had thumb surgery today (he's expected to be out 3-4 months). Hell, even Heidi Watney left for the West Coast (Lakers games) while NESN replaced her with her Zoomass, non-union equivalent Jenny Dell.

I can never recall going into a Red Sox season with this many question marks. Sure, there's been plenty of teams that didn't have nearly this much talent (most of the 1990s and early 2000s) but who has any confidence in this group since it's most of the same heartless losers that choked last season.

Boston still competes in MLB's toughest division. The Yankees and Rays are still both loaded in their own unique ways and I expect each of them to finish ahead of the Red Sox. The good news for the Red Sox is that a third-place finish this season could potentially end in a playoff berth. This is the first year of two Wild Card spots so keep that in mind. Maybe, Toronto will finally get over the .500 mark and do something. The Baltimore Orioles are still one of the worst teams in baseball until further notice.

I'm sorry it's taken me this long but here's some things we can positively count on: Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez will all continue to mash. Unfortunately, there's plenty of negative things that you can set your watch to: Mike Aviles will make a ton of errors at shortstop, Josh Beckett will get hurt multiple times with minor or fake injuries, David Ortiz will go through a long drought and the back end of the Red Sox' pitching rotation with Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard could likely be a disaster.

I wish I didn't care as much as I do but I can't help it. I'll watch all the games and fiendishly read about them in many forms. I enjoy baseball and no summer is complete without a Red Sox game on the TV or radio. There's a calming serenity to it all and that's probably the cheesiest thing I've ever written on this blog. All I ask for is effort and a team that makes it much easier to root for them. Also, if they could find a way to not let Valentine talk more than five minutes a day to the media, that would be fantastic.

The 2012 season begins tomorrow afternoon in Detroit as the Red Sox play the Tigers three times. Jon Lester gets the Opening Day start against Justin Verlander.

Here is the Opening Day roster for the Sox:

Pitchers (13): Scott Atchison, Alfredo Aceves, Matt Albers, Daniel Bard, Josh Beckett, Michael Bowden, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront, Jon Lester, Mark Melancon, Franklin Morales, Vicente Padilla, Justin Thomas.

Catchers (2); Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Kelly Shoppach.

Infielders (6): Mike Aviles, Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Nick Punto, Kevin Youkilis

Outfielders (4): Jacoby Ellsbury, Darnell McDonald, Cody Ross, Ryan Sweeney


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Who Needs A Closer?

While reading Sports Illustrated's excellent 2012 MLB preview, I have to say that finally I was beginning to look forward to this upcoming baseball season.

Of course, the Boston Red Sox had to quickly bring me back to Earth with some terrible news today: new closer Andrew Bailey will be out 3-4 months after thumb surgery.

So yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing the sport of baseball, mostly because it symbolizes summer and nice weather. I still feel exactly the same about the Red Sox as I did in October. They have so much to prove to make me or countless millions of people more interested in their needless drama.

Bobby Valentine being Bobby V, he won't admit who will close games now but most sources think it will be another newcomer: former Astros closer Mark Melancon. It doesn't make sense to throw Daniel Bard in that role since he's been groomed as a starter all spring and Alfredo Aceves is too versatile to pigeon hole him there as well.

In other thumb news, Josh Beckett is also getting his right thumb looked at but apparently the Texas toughguy will be healthy enough to start on Saturday in Detroit. I'll believe it when I see it because he's the biggest fraud currently playing professional sports in Boston.

The Red Sox open their 2012 season on Thursday afternoon as Jon Lester takes on AL MVP Justin Verlander. The teams will play three games in Motown this weekend. If I can stomach it or be bothered, I will do a more lengthy preview tomorrow night.

UPDATE 4/4: Valentine confirmed today that Alfredo Aceves will be the closer. Not who I wanted but I'm sure he'll do a good job. The bigger issue that move creates is who will cover all the innings he pitched out of the bullpen in a variety of roles?

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Does This Look Like The Goofy Face Of The Next Manager Of The Boston Red Sox?

Well our long regional nightmare is over. It appears that after two months, the Boston Red Sox have finally chosen its next manager: Bobby Valentine.

After taking forever to make a decision and interviewing a pool of completely underwhelming choices: Dale Sveum, Pete Mackanin, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Torey Luvullo, it came down to Valentine or Gene Lamont.

Lamont was last seen as Detroit's third base coach so a Little League coach from Southie might have been a better candidate than him. He last managed in 2000! Sure Bobby V hasn't managed in MLB since 2002 (when he was fired from the Mets) but he's honed his skills in Japan and more recently, on Sunday Night Baseball.

After all, everyone knows baseball announcers make great managers. Honestly though, with as long as this dragged out (and let's not even mention that the Red Sox still haven't received compensation from the Cubs for Theo Epstein), fans just wanted Boston to come to a conclusion. We weren't into any of these guys but at the end of the day, does it really matter?

Managers in MLB are by far the least important head coaching position in the four major spots. They fill out lineup cards, make bullpen moves and what else exactly? Break up a few fights in the clubhouse, make some cringe worthy public appearances and that's about it. You know the Boston baseball writers will be eating out of Valentine's hand by Spring Training. They love him since he's quotable and a character so there's no doubt they'll go out of their way to state their unrequited love for him.

Who cares? Now that this is settled, can the front office focus on more important things like who's going to close next season for the Red Sox? Not to mention resigning David Ortiz, figuring out who will play right field and adding to the shaky rotation.

Free agency has begun and besides resigning Marco Scutaro, this team hasn't done anything to ensure it won't finish in third place in the AL East for the third consecutive year. Boston finally has a manager, time for more important tasks such as rebuilding this fractured squad.

UPDATE 12/1: I just watched the nauseating introductory press conference and while it wasn't mentioned, various reports said earlier today that Valentine got a two-year deal (with team options for 2014 and 2015) at slightly less than $3 million per season. It is interesting to note since that is rather short for a guy just starting out in a new place.

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