不知道红袜高层还能容忍他到何时?
http://tinyurl.com/7x2ewle
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the whole point to hiring Bobby
Valentine is that he’s a cut above most as a tactical manager? He’s not in
the Boston dugout because he’s a great manager of people. Nor does he have a
rep as some sort of master disciplinarian who manages to get the most out of
players. He’s there because he’s a smart guy, and the Red Sox apparently
wanted a smart guy.
Unfortunately, 14 games in, Valentine isn’t looking very smart. Leaving
left-hander Franklin Morales in to face Mike Napoli was the bases loaded in
the Texas game Tuesday was an awful move that worked out just as badly as
should have been expected (Napoli hit a bases-clearing double, giving Texas a
6-2 lead). Saturday’s eighth-inning moves in the 15-9 loss to the Yankees,
dropping Boston to 4-10 on the season, weren’t quite so baffling, but they
were terribly wrong-headed.
First, with the Red Sox up 9-8, he let Morales start the eighth against a
right-hander, even though Morales had already gotten three outs. That would
have been explicable if he actually intended to go forward with Morales, but
he removed him immediately after a leadoff single. That’s like my rule No.
1: don’t send a pitcher back to the mound if you’re going to pull him after
the first mistake. It’s stupid managing.
So, now Valentine brings in his closer to try to get six outs, only he does
it with a man on first instead of with the bases empty. Alfredo Aceves
proceded to walk Derek Jeter and give up a two-run double to Nick Swisher,
putting the Yankees up 10-9. Next up was the second dumb move of the inning:
Valentine had Aceves walk Robinson Cano to bring up Alex Rodriguez with two
on and none out.
I wouldn’t have had a big problem with that in the ninth with Mariano Rivera
set to come in. Doing everything possible to keep the lead at one would have
been the best strategy then. But the Red Sox had two more chances to score,
and Valentine just handed them the recipe for a big inning by giving the
Bombers yet another baserunner. A-Rod walked to load the bases, Mark Teixeira
doubled and it was 12-9. Yet another intentional walk followed and the top of
the eighth ended with the Red Sox down by six.
I do feel kind of bad for Valentine. This isn’t the team the Red Sox figured
to put on the field. He’s been stripped of his closer, his left fielder and
now his center fielder. Also, he can’t be blamed for the fact that the Red
Sox’s top three starters have been shelled a combined four times already.
But I don’t see Valentine doing any good either. He hasn’t lost the Red Sox
any games by himself, but he’s certainly put the team in position to lose a
couple of times and this squad simply isn’t good enough to bail him out.