Valentine talked about two subjects near and dear to Red Sox fans' hearts: Jason Varitek and the myth of Derek Jeter.
Let's get to the most obviously foolish Valentine remark first; Valentine essentially called out Jeter's famous "flip" play against the Oakland Athletics. Two things are interesting about Valentine's remarks: first, he is absolutely correct when he says that Jeter was out of position, and second, there is no reason to be making the comment in general.
Jeter was out of position no matter how you look at the play, and it actually turned out better for the Yankees that he was. Either the Yankees practice the play (like everybody involved with the Yankees has stated) or it was a heads up play by a (begrudgingly) heads up player. If Jeter was in position there is no reason he would have had to be running at a full speed in order to get to the ball. But, if he was in position, and therefore taking the errant throw like a normal cutoff man, there is no way he would have gotten the ball to Posada in nearly enough time (a flip is much quicker to get rid of and much easier to handle for Posada).
I go to great lengths to never defend the Yankees, but why in the world was Valentine bringing up the play in the first place? Everyone knows the easiest way to knock the myth of Derek Jeter is to bring up the fact he may be one of the worst defensive short stops of the past twenty years. At the same time, if you mention that fact you are also admitting just how effective he is as a player in the clubhouse and at the dish; anybody who is that bad defensively and is thought of as this good MUST be a menace at the dish and a steady voice in the clubhouse.
Getting off to a great start and cementing himself as a serious manager is the first thing Valentine must establish. He has already failed miserably with these comments about Jeter.
Look, I understand what Valentine was trying to do; endear himself to the Fenway Faithful by dissing Jeter, but he went about it the wrong way and now just looks completely foolish as less than 24 hours later he has had to apologize because literally EVERYONE involved with the Yankees over the last 20 years has come to defend the play and point out that Valentine has NO CLUE what he is talking about. Mainly, the Yankees apparently always practiced that play. Moreover, to make matters worse, it was not a current Yankee player or coach who threw Bobby V's comments back in his face, it was his own coach; Gary Tuck, the terrific catching instructor and bullpen coach for the Red Sox had to nudge Valentine and tell him, "ummm, yeah, we totally practiced that play."
For a man who was hired to make people take the Red Sox seriously, Valentine is off to a rocking start.
Stance on Varitek is Baffling
When Bobby Valentine was hired by the Red Sox one of his first orders of business was apparently to alienate his two longest tenured players (Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek). Both players were offered minor league contracts, which is essentially a slap to the face of both men... and speaking of hands to the face, apparently Bobby Valentine really admires Jason Varitek and his leadership ability, just not enough to invite him back.
I have already spouted off about the ill-treatment of both Varitek and Wafefield and have said my piece about hot stupid it is for the Red Sox to put their faith in unproven catchers, so I will simply state what is apparently not-so-obvious; Varitek's ability to call a game and control a pitcher, as well as a pitching staff, will be felt throughout the entirety of the season. It is going to be a simple case of, they did not know what they had until it was gone.
Varitek holds practically every Red Sox Catching record as well as being the only catcher in baseball history to catch four no-hitters. The Red Sox forced both Wakefield and Varitek to retire, and while both will be missed,
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