After last year's historic collapse down the stretch the Boston Red Sox decided to clean house and start fresh. They fired Theo Epstein, the architect of two World Series titles and Terry Francona, a manager who dealt with personalities the likes of Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, and Johnny Damon. In an attempt to change the culture and get back to basics the Red Sox hired longtime ESPN analyst Bobby Valentine as the skipper. After a 2-5 start to the 2012 season Red Sox Nation is ready to hit the panic button.
Although Bobby Valentine has extensive managerial experience and a wealth of baseball knowledge the Red Sox job is not a good fit for him. He was an analyst for too long and the transition back to the dugout hasn't gone as smoothly as he anticipated. Valentine is used to0 having the benefit of hindsight to determine what moves a manager should or shouldn't make. It's way different when you have to make those decision in the heat of the moment.
In addition, Valentine doesn't relate to the modern day players that well. He's old school and his war stories don't resonate with the younger generation. The tough guy, no nonsense approach is already starting to wear thin and we're not even to the 10th game of the season. The players didn't realize how much they liked Francona until he was gone.
There's still time for Boston to turn things around and win a pennant, but early signs point to a disappointing season. There's no patience in Beantown and no room for 2nd place. It's a win or get out type of atmosphere and I don't think Bobby Valentine is up for the challenge. Iin my estimation he won't make it too many games past the all star break. The Red Sox organization may have done the right thing, but it didn't yield the desired results. Back to the drawing board. The Valentine watch has officially started.
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