Bobby Valentine Lost Red Sox Clubhouse With Youkilis Stink Bomb

One of the biggest concerns when Bobby Valentine was hired to manage the Boston Red Sox was his demeaning behavior to call out players through the media.  He did it in New York and it created a riff between him and the players.  He has now done it in Boston and it appears as though he’s on the verge of losing the clubhouse, which is the kiss of death for any manager in any sport.

Bobby V called out Kevin Youkilis stating he doesn’t appear to be as into the game physically or emotionally as he has in the past.  What the…….? Youk is one of the hardest working players on the Sox and has been for years, just ask any teammate.  Sure he has issues that rub some teammates the wrong way, but Youk plays the game the right way.

Dustin Pedroia, who came to the defense of Youkilis doesn’t appear to be impressed with Valentine, even taking a shot at him about his antics, courtesy of the Boston Globe.

"“I don’t know what Bobby’s trying to do, but that’s not the way we do things here,” said Pedroia. “Maybe that stuff works in Japan.”"

Just when this team gets things rolling by winning three straight over the talented Tampa Bay Rays, Bobby V throws cold water on a hot Red Sox team.  What is his method to his madness here?

A trade could be in the works as Youkilis has already met with general manager Ben Cherington, although nothing has been reported from the meeting.  Youk is not in the lineup due to what is being called a sore groing, hmmmm.

Regardless, what Bobby has done is throw a huge stink bomb into the Sox clubhouse and may have lost the respect and trust of every player in there.  Valentine apologized to Youk through a press conference on Monday, stating he was misunderstood with what he was trying to say.  Bobby, the point has been made and the damage has been done.

For the other 24 players in the clubhouse, how do you show up at the ballpark wondering if you’re the next one to get thrown under the bus by your manager.  Rather than focusing on the game at hand, the Sox players are now likely to have to worry about what their manager is saying to the media, another distraction for a team that was just getting over the ugly cloud of last season’s collapse.

There is a positive out of all of this.  Maybe this will finally put the whole beer and chicken scandal in the rear view mirror as we now have this to dwell on.

I would be surprised if the Red Sox won today given what the mood must be like in the Sox clubhouse.  Real nice Bobby, real nice.

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