After the severe lack of discipline that ran rampant throughout the clubhouse of Fenway Park, the Red Sox have now hired Bobby Valentine as their new skipper, replacing the passive Terry Francona. According to Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston, Valentine will be officially hired upon his return from Japan tomorrow.
The beloved former Mets manager will bring a much needed leadership role to the squad and will not put up with any nonsense as seen throughout the month of September. Valentine is the perfect man to light a fire underneath the BoSox and bring them to their first playoff berth since 2009.
The 61-year old now becomes the 45th manager in Red Sox history. After tours of duty with the Texas Rangers and Mets, Valentine will now suit up for his thrid MLB managerial job. Valentine also managed in Japan for the Chiba Lotte Marines in 1995 and from 2004-2009.
On a side note, I think it will be interesting to see how the Red Sox pursue Yu Darvish now that Bobby V. is their skipper. With such a great deal of experience in Japanese baseball, Valentine could provide a much-needed comfort level for a guy like Darvish coming over to such a different enviornment. Also, it will be interesting to see if Daisuke Matsuzaka’s performance changes it all now that he has a manager that can comminicate with him on a more one-on-one level.
