BOSTON — Bobby Valentine was fired as manager of the Boston Red Sox on Thursday after failing to turn around the struggling Major League Baseball team during his first season in charge.
Although Valentine still had another season remaining on his two-year contract, the Red Sox swiftly announced their decision a day after the 2012 regular season finished.
“This year’s won-loss record reflects a season of agony,” Red Sox President Larry Lucchino said in a statement. “It begs for changes, some of which have already transpired. More will come. We are determined to fix that which is broken.”
World Series champions twice in the last eight years, the Red Sox endured a miserable season under Valentine, compiling a 69-93 record, the franchise’s worst result since 1965.
In the same year they were celebrating the 100th anniversary of Boston’s Fenway Park, the Red Sox finished last in the five-team American League East, 26 wins behind the division champion and rival New York Yankees.
“This season was by far the worst we have experienced in over 10 years here,” Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner said.
“Ultimately, we are all collectively responsible for the team’s performance. We are going to be working tirelessly to reconstruct the ball club for 2013. We’ll be back.”
Valentine was hired by the Red Sox last year to replace Terry Francona, who left the club following one of the greatest late-season collapses in MLB history.
Leading their division by nine games heading into the final month of the season, the Red Sox lost 20 of 27 games to miss out on the playoffs, a misery compounded by their pre-season status as favorites to win the World Series after a massive spending spree and a $161 million payroll.
Valentine, a former major league player and successful manager with the Texas Rangers and New York Mets, was brought in to try and turn the team around.
But the Red Sox performed even worse this season, losing 21 more games than in 2011, raising speculation that his days in Boston were numbered.
“I understand this decision,” Valentine said. “This year in Boston has been an incredible experience for me, but I am as disappointed in the results as are ownership and the great fans of Red Sox Nation.”
It was not long until the first signs of trouble began to surface. The Red Sox made a slow start to the season and then lurched from one disaster to the next.
Hit by injuries to key players, it quickly became evident that there was also growing dissent in the ranks.
Valentine publicly criticised third baseman Kevin Youkilis, who was later traded to the Chicago White Sox, as well as his own coaching staff.
Late in the season, the Red Sox traded Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to the Los Angeles Dodgers to free up money for the future but triggering another collapse.
“No single issue is the reason, and no single individual is to blame,” Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington said. “We’ve been making personnel changes since August, and we will continue to do so as we build a contending club.
“With an historic number of injuries, Bobby was dealt a difficult hand. He did the best he could under seriously adverse circumstances.”
Cherington said the search for a new manager would start immediately. Local media outlets said John Farrell, the Toronto Blue Jays manager and former Red Sox pitching coach, was looming as the most likely successor.
About time!
How many times did he pich, how many hits did he get the answer is none, it is not his fault if the players are no bad players
Trying to make Bard a starter was a managerial mistake.
Public feuding with Kevin Youkilis was a managerial mistake.
Pinch-Hitting for Jose Iglesias was a managerial mistake.
Several issues with Alfredo Aceves including lifting him from the starting rotation but never telling him and that was a managerial mistake.
He left pitchers in way to long on multiple occasions and that was a managerial mistake.
Public feuding with Dustin Pedroia was a managerial mistake.
Blaming the coaching staff for not “supporting” him is making excuses and was a managerial mistake.
Threatening a WEEI Host was a managerial mistake.
One or two may have not been a problem but lump all of them together and that equals a continuation of a dysfunctional team with dysfunctional leadership.
I agree with several of your points, but the decision to put Bard in the rotation was Cherrington’s, Pedroia’s comment on “that’s not the way we do things here” was wrong on him, and Aceves is a head case who should have been let go after he showed up Valentine on the mound.
1 year, no playoffs, gone.
Can’t we hold Whitehead and COZ to a higher set of standards? Please.
Apples and oranges.
Professional and collegiate.
Maybe when the team they’re in charge of end the season with their worst record since 1965, too…
The story isn’t about Whitehead
Aside from the number of on-field mistakes Mr. V made this year , big league managing is 1/2 PR. Inthis respect, Bobby was good at promoting himself and not much else. His track record said as much. Lucchino should be permanently relegated to the brick sales/phony hype/pink hat department of the club for this bonehead hire. Luchinno is not qualified to hire the manager.
What took so long???????????
I thought he quit 6 weeks ago? Or was it 16? Maybe Tito wasn’t the problem?
6 months ago, actually.
Mean while – for those interested in watching a quality team play – GO YANKEES!!!
They’ll be lucky to get out of the division series with their pitching. Hoping for a Beltway (Nats-O’s) WS this year!
As always- good stats or bad stats- Yankees simply S**k
Sorry but as a die hard Red Sox fan, I will NEVER root for the Yankees. Being stationed in Norfolk, I’ll be rooting for the Orioles and the Nationals because they are the “hometown” teams.
Don’t you ever get sick of rooting for other teams because the bosox flamed out? Why even bother with them in the first place?
’04
This is the best comment ever.
YAY! That’s the best news regarding the Red Sox I’ve heard all season, now if they’d just bring Francona back!
NO NO
Unfortunately, Francona’s not coming back. Not unless ownership can make amends for the way they treated him last year. Also, the media attention had worn him down after eight seasons in Boston.
Unfortunately, you’re correct.
We were wondering if he was just going to be offered a Taxi ride home immediately after the game last night …………
As a coach for the Red Sox Bobby Valentine was kinda like having Billy Buckner playing first base. No possible good could have come of either of them in those positions. I did like Billy though, great guy and talent but like Bobby, he hung around baseball jusssst a little too long.
Reaching…
Many of the ’86 Red Sox team are quick to point out that they would not have gotten as far as they did without Bill Buckner.
I kept saying he was a spy from New Yawk but nobody listened.
Its ok folks, you will be seeing the Orioles in the championship….
Buy some extra popcorn and watch a real team..
Who even likes the Orioles??
Ohhhh Come on….
“Leading their division by nine games heading into the final month of the season…”
This is an excellent reason the wire editor needs to actually read wire stories. The Sox were nine games ahead for a wild card spot, not the division title. (I should check that figure, but I have to leave.)
Sloppy reporting. They led the AL East by 1/2 a game on September 1, 2011. They finished 7 games back. Hairball!
what about Butterfield.. he should get a shot the head position .. he is from this area and knows a ton of people and has has excellent success in the majors.. he has unbelievable rapport with the players that he has been in contact with for the past number of years.. come on man give him a shot
Maybe Obama could hire him as a coach for debate practice.
I think the Pres could use all the help he can get , at this point.
Steeerike 3 , you’re out.
Why do people always have to make everything about politics?
GOOD RIDDANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Flash! Team finishes at the bottom of the heap, manager fired. wow. Next item?
Bad move.
It was a bad move to hire him. He wasn’t the right fit from the get go, injuries or no injuries.
Best news I’ve heard all year, too bad it was after the season.
Its about time we fired someone who wasnt doing a good job. After last nights debate it sounds like that line of thought will be present in November too :D
huh… I thought Big Bird was doing just fine..
Bye
Should have never been hired He never got the team to play for him Tek should be the next mgr
As good as Varitek was at calling a game, he was also the captain on a team that blew up last September. Maybe wait a while on that hire.
Good, now fire Lepage and everyone will win.
Im a Cardinals fan and always will be:)Although, I did enjoy watching Roger pitch in the past. However, he became quite arrogant.
What does this have to do with Bobby V?
I gotta be honest here. I never liked Bobby V in New York with the Mets and the players hated him there too, so its not that big of a surprise to see the players turn on him here in Beantown. The Sox were going to have a year or two like this. The money they were spending was absurd and the farm system was completely used up. Hopefully the players that they got for Gonzo, Beckett and the others will pan out. In either case its time to get a decent manager, I would love to see them give Varitek a shot, and then groom the players to come together in a couple of years. The problem with that in Red Sox Nation is that we are always impatient. We can want it all and we want it now. That is not how Dynasties are built. The dreaded Yankees have learned that the hard way through billions spent on worthless has beens. The Red Sox were doing the same. Hopefully the managing partners have learned from their mistakes, but I truly DOUBT that.
Putting Varitek in the managerial position would be akin to the University of Maine’s mistake with having Cindy Blodgett become the head coach.
I’m not saying Varitek couldn’t be a good manager someday. But he has no experience managing a team, and Boston is not the place to start, especially when you’ve had success there in your playing career.
He doesn’t have the style or class to be a big league manager that commands respect. When he was color analyst for ESPN and tore Beckett apart for not having good stuff, that came back to haunt him. This job was has many more dynamics then he predicted. Plus, it irritated a lot of fans to watch him in the dug out down 9 runs with that million dollar smile on his face. The fans of the Boston Red Sox want our guy to be passionate. He never connected with anyone other than the bat boy that both rode their bicycles to the park on nice days. Maybe Beckett was an over paid puke, maybe Youk didn’t think his coach should be able to talk to him that was but one would have thought Bobby V would have connected with someone.
Anyway, I am glad he was gone. Maybe the next guy that gets the job will require that management stay the heck out of his way also. Henry and Lucchino have a lot of money and Cherrington seems like a quality kid but the coach needs to have total control over coaching.
The most successful coaches are the ones that get the players to play for him and for them. Torre, Leland, Shoewalter to name a few get a little extra productivity from their guys becasue their guys respect the coach and want him to do well asl well. It’s a give and take and Bobby V just never got it. He should take his flashy smile back to ESPN as a color analyst