Although he was only their manager for one season, Red Sox players thought so highly of Bobby Valentine that they dedicated their 2013 World Series title to their former manager. Valentine took the Red Sox to a last-place finish in 2012 in a season where they were expected to solidly contend for at least fourth place in the A.L. East. After the Red Sox closed-out the Cardinals to win the World Series Tuesday night, the players started chanting “This one’s for Bobby. This one’s for Bobby.”
For the Sox, it only made sense to honor a manager who inserted the wrong pitcher multiple times because he never spoke to his bench coaches. Another Valentine habit that endeared him to his former players was when took them out of games falsely claiming they were injured. As if this wasn’t enough, Valentine showed his quirky endearing spirit by using pitchers who lost game after game without a thought whatsoever to replacing them in the line-up.
The highlight of Valentine’s managerial career with Boston came when he questioned the toughness of team icons such as Kevin Youkilis and David “Big Papi” Ortiz. Big Papi, arguably one of the three greatest Red Sox players of all time, was accused by Valentine of not trying hard once the Red Sox were mathematically eliminated from the 2012 penant race.
A somber Ortiz addressed the media.
“It’s almost impossible for me to sit here and celebrate my third World Series title without the greatest manager I have ever played for in my career,” said Ortiz. “This MVP trophy is as much mine as his and if we don’t retire his number to open next season then I guess the Red Sox just don’t know how to properly run a baseball franchise.”
Efforts to reach out to Valentine for comment proved unsuccessful, however a man wearing glasses with a Groucho Marx mustache was seen in the Red Sox dugout getting his finger-sized for a World Series Ring.
