By now we’ve all had the chance to view the pictures, replay the interview and digest the formal introduction of Bobby Valentine as the new manager of the Red Sox. While I won’t spend time going through the press conference word by word, I did want to share something that I feel will benefit the Red Sox this upcoming season.
When Bobby was asked about his former GM, Steve Phillips and the amount of bad publicity the two received when Valentine managed the Mets, he was quite candid to point out that he’s learnt from his mistakes. Valentine even went so far as to say we’ve all made mistakes and he may have made the most. But he’s learnt from those behaviors and decisions and he wants to remember the good times he had in New York and with Phillips.
It’s this mind set that can only help Bobby V as he enters the dragon’s den. It will also help the Red Sox to have had Bobby encounter similar clubhouse disruptions earlier in his career.
In 2002, the Valentine Mets succumbed to various off field distractions. Reported marijuana users on the team in late September plagued what was an under-achieving high payroll is just one example. It brought all kinds of negative publicity and the end result was the blame being placed on Bobby V.
Compare that to a Red Sox team that was heavily criticized for drinking beer and eating chicken in the clubhouse in September. While the two incidents vary on a wide spectrum of comparability, the point is that both teams had issues in the clubhouse.
There was the speculation that some Met’s players rode in limousines rather then ride on the team bus. Hmm, sounds like there were a handful of players that alienated themselves or formed a little clique. Sound familiar? How about the starting pitchers being in their beer drinking, chicken eating group. They did isolate themselves from their teammates and it took it’s toll on the team. There was no solidarity with the Mets and there sure wasn’t any with the Red Sox last year.
The ’02 Mets team was assembled to win. High priced talent was brought in to propel this team to the next level; win a a World Series. Their $95 million dollar payroll was one of the highest in baseball, similar to the Red Sox in ’11. While the Sox won 90 games this past season and the Mets only managed 75 victories and found themselves in the NL East basement there is a correlation here.
The Red Sox brought in high priced talent in Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and John Lackey. And still they missed the playoffs in a royal, pitiful fashion. Just another example of under achieving with a high payroll.
Valentine would eventually get fired for his lack of leadership with the 2002 Mets and it’s here that we find our silver lining in what has been a very dark cloud for Red Sox fans.
It has been almost a decade since Valentine experienced the Mets meltdown. He even said he’s learnt from most of his mistakes and let’s hope that the biggest learning curve came from how he handled a defunct clubhouse. Valentine is walking into a situation that has already suffered a dysfunctional clubhouse. Finger pointing has already taken place and good people have left because of it. It’s now up to Valentine to go in there, straighten out some attitudes, rattle some cages and ensure that this type of unacceptable behavior doesn’t happen again.
What Bobby encountered with the Mets, you can be sure he will not let happen again in Boston. He does not want to go through the humility again and most of all he knows that a divided clubhouse results in a losing team, no matter how much talent you have.
We heard Valentine say that he wants to “establish a culture of excellence.” That has to start now. He is no doubt referring to what happened with the Mets and even Bobby knows that this is likely his last chance to win in the majors. It’s safe to say that he will handle clubhouse issues differently.
He will invest everything he has, that much we know. He’s passionate and fiery all in the same breath. He’s had time to reflect on how he let a clubhouse get away from him over nine years ago. You can bet your pay cheque that he won’t let it happen again.
The saying “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” has never been more true.
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