Bobby Valentine:
It was a recognizable, championship caliber name, with a wealth of baseball wisdom, but Bobby Valentine was nothing more than a dispensable pawn for the Boston Red Sox organization. This season was to be a wash. From the go. There was no winning in store for the 2012 Red Sox.
Bobby Valentine was an example of the Red Sox brass pushing all-in, hoping that a bluff would suffice for the fan base, and maybe…just maybe, holding a pair of deuces might actually get the Sox into the playoffs. A miracle season.
Unfortunately, for Red Sox fans, and for Bobby V., there was too much infection left around the wound known as the 2011 debacle. In order for the team to experience any success, everyone would have needed to buy into what Bobby wanted to do.
Players. Coaches. Equipment managers. You know…just like the team that Bobby managed in Japan. The team that one the World Series of Japan. Yeah. They bought in. Changed things. Ignored familiarity and comfort to be part of a team and system. And…with that statement, the red flag of Red Sox Nation and the United States of America starts waving. We’re not very good at that in this country anymore–buying in. Being uncomfortable. Unfortunately for Bobby, he’s never been wholly adept at adapting.
In addition to the poor roll of the dice by general management, Boston played some 50-plus players at various positions due to injuries, and player trades. The entire organization, at best, was a house of cards. The fact that they won nearly 70 games, I would consider the season somewhat a success. I predicted 55 wins in April.
There’s no need for the fan base to lick their wounds. Just enjoy hating the Yankees during the playoffs, and know that it’ll be another 3 to 4 seasons before the Red Sox start to compete consistently.
