RealGM

"I don't think he's as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason,'' Valentine said Sunday. "But [on Saturday] it seemed, you know, he's seeing the ball well, got those two walks, got his on-base percentage up higher than his batting average, which is always a good thing, and he'll move on from there."

"I really don't know what Bobby is trying to do," Pedroia said Monday. "That's not the way we go about our stuff around here. He'll figure that out. The whole team is behind Youk. We have each other's backs here."

Pedroia was then asked whether he thought Valentine perhaps was trying to light a fire under Youkilis, who is hitting .200 on the young season.

"Maybe that works in Japan," Pedroia said, referring to Valentine's successful stints as a manager in that country.

Randle McMurphy wrote:Bobby Valentine isn't going to last to the end of the month if he keeps going off like this. How out of touch can he be?

What a ****show in Boston.

Schadenfreude wrote:Bobby Valentine was out of touch in 2002. He was probably out of touch in 1992, as well. Why Boston's front office felt that he was the right fit for a team in turmoil, I'll never understand.

Also, Bard-as-starter is going to get pretty silly if Bobby V allows him to throw 110+ pitches, as he did today. That's a long leash for a guy with a decade of experience starting, when you're talking about their second start of the season. It's entirely insane when the pitcher in question has only begun to stretch out. Allowing him to remain in the game to face Longoria, after giving up two walks and a single consecutively as his already-shaky control departed, is the sort of thing that really ought to make a with-cause firing possible.

Schadenfreude wrote:Seriously, what has happened with their bullpen to leave Justin Thomas and Matt Albers as the tandem to keep them in the game against a rival. Granted, they actually did the job, but yikes.

satyr9 wrote:

Schadenfreude wrote:Seriously, what has happened with their bullpen to leave Justin Thomas and Matt Albers as the tandem to keep them in the game against a rival. Granted, they actually did the job, but yikes.

Well to be a little fair it was an early game and 4 guys threw yesterday. He does seem to have run away from Melancon in a hurry though.

Homer Jay wrote:The fact apparently NOBODY on the team like Ellsbury, and that Jacoby already has one foot out the door to the Giants, doesn't help.

Hamyltowne wrote:

Homer Jay wrote:The fact apparently NOBODY on the team like Ellsbury, and that Jacoby already has one foot out the door to the Giants, doesn't help.

Where did you read this?

Nor was Youkilis willing to talk after a second straight injury-marred year in which his production suffered. Youkilis, by nearly all accounts, grew more detached and short-tempered as he tried to play through his ailments. He also factored in a divisive clubhouse issue as the only player last year who publicly criticized Jacoby Ellsbury - several others privately chided the outfielder - when Ellsbury missed all but 18 games with rib injuries.


The episode chilled Ellsbury’s relationship with the team. As joyful as Ellsbury’s MVP-caliber season was to many fans, his interaction in the Sox clubhouse was limited mostly to his friend Jed Lowrie. Ellsbury produced one of the most sensational seasons for a leadoff hitter in franchise history - he also ranked with Pedroia, Aceves, and Jonathan Papelbon among the team’s hardest workers - but he contributed little to the clubhouse culture.