were the critics wrong about Bobby V?

[kgsmith]

since the beginning of the season, when Boston was losing, the critics were harsh on the Sox and their manager.. now the sox are right behind Baltimore for second place and are getting ready to get Crawford and Ellsbury back.. was it the managing, or just the injuries?

[mvp 78]

I think the in-game tactician stuff was overrated. He's been ok, but not a genius.

 

Frankly, the bigger surprise is how after the Youk comments, he really hasn't been a "my way or the highway" guy as many thought. Even if he didn't have FO's support, he still should have ruffled feathers if that's what he thought would win games.

 

He was hired over other candidates because he looks good in front of the camera. That's about it.

[wyo-sox]

I'd say the media would like it to be one thing... like the manager, or injuries etc..... I'd say Bobby V. was the easiest target when things were not going well. In reality it was a team with a bunch of new parts, a new manager, lots of injuries, a new GM, an emotional hangover from being part of the greatest collapse in baseball history...... and with the length of a baseball season nobody should have made rush judgements on Bobby V. or the Red Sox in general early in the season. The reality is that Bobby has at minimum done ok, and there is plenty of season for him to improve the team, or screw it up. The reality is that he did not inherit a very ideal situation and he's made the most of it.

[redsoxfan3]

The thing is that there are always going to be critics. I think Bobby V has done a decent job with the circumstances given. We only have one All-Star this year. I think Salty deserved to be an All-Star, but besides Salty and Ortiz, we have not had much consistency from anyone else offensively. Pedroia has had his ups and downs. Gonzalez has been down a lot. Aviles has been decent at times. Ross has been a nice addition, but we are not loaded with a bunch of All-Stars this year, unlike years in the past. The injuries have hurt us. The starting pitching has been inconsistent. We lost both our potential set-up man and closer due to bad performance and an injury, respectively. Bobby V has done a good job with piecing together a decent bullpen, especially with Padilla and Aceves as the set-up and closer. I also heard it was his idea to allow Morales to start. That was a great decision. Bobby V has definitely allowed us to be in the running for the playoffs. It is not completely his doing, but I think he deserves more credit than some fans/critics will give him. He has been fortunate with a lot of things as well. Who would have thought Nava and Pods would be as good as they have? To answer your question, he was put in a tough situation, and has done a decent job. Whether it was the managing or injuries, that is irrelevant because we are still in a position to make the playoffs.

[NativeBostonian]

I don’t think he has been bad, but I don’t think he has been stupendous. He’s done something’s that made me think he was too old to be a manager. But, he has also shown that he can manage the pitching staff better than Francona.

[FredLynn]

Valetine made some mistakes early, but for the last couple of months he has made very few errors. He has fashioned a pretty good bullpen out of second rate has been pitchers by carefully choosing appropriate roles for them after losing his closer. He has been quick to remove struggling pitchers instead of sticking with a pitcher until we were hopelessly far behind, a favorite trick of Francona. He has had that relief pitcher ready to go. Valentine has been much better than Francona at utilizing all of the offensive weapons at his disposal, including bunts and suicide squeezes. Not sure what Francona even knows what the word means, even now. Valentine has utilized the pinch hitter much more effectively than Francona ever did. He has emphasized hustle and although the player execution has not been 100% accurate, at least he made them practice it more than the previous manager. Finally (for now), he is up there cheering for the players in the dugout whereas Francona hung out near the spitoon all game long, barely paying attention to the game, seemingly. Where Valentine could improve nowadays is by not allowing players to run the show as much (he should be disciplining insubordinate players, no matter how much money they make) and he should not be penciling into the lineup stiffs like Lillibridge-EVER. They should ride the pine until the FO realizes that the man who makes out the lineup card is not going to play incompetent ballplayers.

Overall, Valentine has not been perfect, but he is a refreshing improvement over Terry Francona.

[SCM33]

Baseball manager is the most overrated coaching position in sports.

 

With that being said, hes done a great job with the pen......which besides making a lineup, is all they do.

[FredLynn]

Baseball manager is the most overrated coaching position in sports.

 

With that being said, hes done a great job with the pen......which besides making a lineup, is all they do.

 

Hardly. They also decide when a pitcher will be removed and who will replace him, when to get someone ready in the pen, when to bunt and when not to bunt, when to pinch hit, when to issue an intentional pass, and when to ask a player to try to steal a base or use a hit and run. They also manage clubhouse politics and they have to deal with the press-no easy task in a voracious city like Boston. I believe that managers can lose games for the team by making stupid moves during the game, but its much harder for them to win a game for the club. Its their job to put their club in the best possible position to win a game, then its up to the players to execute. If the manager hobbles the players, as Francona often did, it makes it that much tougher to win a game.

[iortiz]

Well, IMO he has managed a lot better the BP than Tito. I will never understand why Tito and now V put on the field D-McD, though, but taking that away, he's done an acceptable job thus far.

[SCM33]

Hardly. They also decide when a pitcher will be removed and who will replace him' date=' when to get someone ready in the pen, when to bunt and when not to bunt, when to pinch hit, when to issue an intentional pass, and when to ask a player to try to steal a base or use a hit and run. They also manage clubhouse politics and they have to deal with the press-no easy task in a voracious city like Boston. I believe that managers can lose games for the team by making stupid moves during the game, but its much harder for them to win a game for the club. Its their job to put their club in the best possible position to win a game, then its up to the players to execute. If the manager hobbles the players, as Francona often did, it makes it that much tougher to win a game.[/quote']

 

Most situations are no brainers.

 

Baseball managers hurt a team more than they help it.

 

The best ones just sit there and try to stay awake. The loudmouth clowns who try to get noticed are the ones who f*** s*** up (Ozzie Guillen).

[SoxSport]

I think V is a better game manager than Tito. But I wonder if he got the players he wanted in the beginning of the season, and how much personnel say he has now. Those are the biggest questions, and you won't find many answers reading the sports pages. Cafardo impies he doesn't always get what he wants. And he didn't hire his pitching coach, McClure, and doesn't get along with him. Nor did he hire his bench coach.

 

I'll say one thing: if the Red Sox don't make the playoffs this year, there will be more personnel changes.

And I don't mean players.

[InfernoOrangeSS]

My personal opinion is that he has made the most out of what he was handed, (injuries, spoiled players, patchwork BP, etc.) I do like that he is up there and animated during games, (even if this is just his way of self promotion as some have alluded.). I am also old school and like that he wears a uniform and not some god awful pull over.

 

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