Bobby Valentine Attacks the Yankees - The Spin Starts Here

Article first published as Bobby Valentine Attacks the Yankees - The Spin Starts Here on Blogcritics.

Whether you like Bobby Valentine, new skipper of the Boston Red Sox, or not, you have to admit he knows how to stir the pot and cause a commotion. Bobby V (as he is affectionately known here in New York) is a master provocateur, a spin artist of the highest caliber. Bill O'Reilly's famous catch phrase is "The spin stops here." Bobby's might as well be "The spin starts here." Believe it or not, he would not have it any other way.

It has been ten years since Bobby has managed a Major League Baseball team. In that time he has not climbed a mountain in Tibet and become enlightened; no, Bobby hasn't changed one bit. He started talking to the press and you know there is always a game plan. There was some negative press going on about the Red Sox: beer was being banned in the clubhouse, Jason Varitek was retiring, the team blew it last year, etc. What better way for Bobby to spin things his way than to attack the New York Yankees? You can either get agitated about it or sit back and admire how crafty Bobby V can be.

Today Bobby Valentine is splashed across the headlines in the New York papers. Yankees fans are outraged that he spoke about the sacred cow Derek Jeter, and the less than sacred cow A-Rod. Jeter lied about a play being practiced by the Yankees a decade ago; who can even remember what happened last season? Varitek beat A-Rod up; I am not even sure about when or where this happened. For Bobby V the devil is not just in the details - it is the light of his life to get people agitated about them.

As a Mets fan I still like Bobby Valentine. I admire how he managed my team, how he stood up for New York after 9/11, and the way he pushed his team to be the best team it could be (even when that was difficult to say the least). All the other stuff with Bobby V is the package deal: getting thrown out of the game and sitting with a disguise in the clubhouse, for example. Saying things that he knew were going to get people angry or talking. That's Bobby and there's no changing him.

The problem is that Yankees fans now want to break down Bobby's comments and defend their guys. They want to prove that Jeter did practice that play, that A-Rod didn't get beaten up, and on and on. The problem is that is exactly what someone like Bobby wants. You argue about what he says, you get into a debate, you rage against him and the Red Sox, and he thinks he is winning. You know what, since the focus is off his team and on these silly comments, he has succeeded exactly as planned.

So take it from a Mets fan who knows Bobby V's act - the devil is in the details. Yankees fans (and anyone else for that matter) should not get sucked in by what he says. They shouldn't get angry and bothered and want blood, because in that way Bobby thinks he is winning, and maybe he is because it is his fault the spin gets started but it's everyone else's for letting it spin out of control.

One thing is for certain, the baseball season will be a lot more entertaining with Bobby V back in the picture. Welcome back, Bobby Valentine!

Photo Credit - AP

Bobby Valentine Hates the Yankees - Join the Club

Article first published as Bobby Valentine Hates the Yankees - Join the Club on Blogcritics.


Bobby Valentine, the new manager of the Boston Red Sox, is already making headlines with his "I hate the Yankees" quotation. As if the winter meetings in Dallas haven't been exciting enough, you can always count on Bobby V to get things interesting. If Reggie Jackson was the straw that stirred the drink, consider Valentine to be the ladle that pours out the gravy.

Like him or not, Valentine is someone who has an energy that makes things happen. When he was manager of the Mets you could always count on him for some kind of quip or reaction that would make over the top seem low. Once, when he had been thrown out of the game by an umpire, he sat in the corner of the dugout wearing a disguise (sunglasses and a mustache) and was caught by the cameras. It is an unforgettable moment and I can still laugh about it.

Of course, there is a serious side to Valentine, and this was never more evident than after September 11, 2001. Valentine honored the families of the victims and handled himself well as the Mets played the first professional sports game held in the city after the attacks. Whatever else people think about him, at that time he and his players gave New York just what it needed most. It too is unforgettable and I will always respect Valentine for the way he spoke and acted at that time.

Now, of course, he wears a different uniform and manages the Boston Red Sox. People calling into the sports shows on talk radio here in New York were getting crazy today. It was kind of like "How dare Valentine say that about our Yankees?"

These people have to be kidding themselves. I have no illusions; Yankees fans hate the Red Sox just as much if not more. They broke the Curse of the Bambino and things haven't been the same ever since in the American League East. Yankees fans know it and everyone else does too.

Beside, unless you are a Yankees fan, you probably hate the Yankees. Valentine was being honest (a rarity in sports these days) and saying what most fans of other teams think: we all hate the Yankees. As a Mets fan I can say I like Bobby V even better today than I did before. That will last until the Mets are facing the Red Sox in the World Series again, and the way the Mets are going, that probably won't be until sometime after 2020.

So this Mets fan wishes Bobby Valentine well in Beantown. I hope the Red Sox and their fans will appreciate the man for his many talents, and forgive him when he says the wrong thing. Like Rex Ryan, that probably will be more often than not, but Valentine is entertaining and knows how to run a baseball team. You can bet Joe Girardi and his players are a little worried about that.

Photo Credit: bleacherreport.com

Mets Mess: New Manager Introduced: And the Crowd Yawns

Article first published as Mets Mess: New Manager Introduced: And the Crowd Yawns on Blogcritics.


The news that the Mets hired Terry Collins as their new manager did little to inspire dancing in the streets here in New York City. NY Mets fans like myself are sick and tired of an organization treating us with less respect than the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield ever got.


Mets fans wanted a big fish. We wanted Joe Torre, despite all the stuff that went on between him and Jerry Manuel. Who cares about that? We wanted someone like Wally Backman, who maybe didn't ever manage in the majors but was surely a spitfire as a player. We would have even accepted the second coming of Bobby Valentine; at least he had a pulse and caused people to get excited about the game.



Instead, we get Terry Collins, who hasn't managed a baseball game since 1999. Uh, what the heck was Sandy Alderson and that Mets brain trust thinking when they made this choice? This is about as exciting as naming Pee Wee Herman as our starting second baseman for next season. Come to think of it, he'd probably do a better job than Luis Castillo.

Anyway, this Collins guy has an awe inspiring 444-434 record as a major league manager. We wanted a superstar and instead we got the understudy. Mets fans have been so poorly treated in recent years, one has to wonder what objective this franchise is playing for next year. Is this yet another "transition" year? Is this yet another year when we have to suffer with the likes of Castillo and Oliver Perez on the payroll?

Maybe I am wrong and this guy Collins will come in here and make things right again, but during the press conference at Citi Field today it sounded all wrong to me. Collins, who quit as manager of the California Angels in September 1999 due to problems with the team, readily admitted, "I did a bad job managing the clubhouse, no question about it." Way to go, Sandy Alderson, just what we need.

This sounds like another Art Howe kind of guy. Come on, even the Pittsburg Pirates were smarter than this when they hired Clint Hurdle right out from under your nose. If this is the way Alderson plays chess, Mets fans are going to be hearing "Checkmate" before the All Star Break and, if that is the case, the seats are going to be so empty in Citi Field next summer the bored ushers and vendors will be hearing lots of pins drop.

During this same press conference, Collins stated that he felt the Mets had a chance to contend in 2011. Well, right now that sounds to me like the builders of the Titanic saying it was unsinkable. We know how well that turned out.

I wish I could look at this as a good move, but the truth is that I think Mets fans have once again been given damaged goods. Terry Collins? Well folks, I think you all better have a Tom Collins or beverage of your choice and sit back and get ready for what looks like another year of no joy in Metsville.