Bobby Valentine Red Sox Savior

Bobby Valentine and the Boston Red Sox want the same things. Discipline in the clubhouse is one thing because you don’t play video games, smoke cigars and screw around on Valentine’s watch. The other thing on the wish list is a World Series title. Red Sox owners aren’t shelling out their millions for guys to fall apart in September.

The hiring of Valentine as the next manager of the Red Sox makes sense for the organization and is just what he wanted, too. Valentine wants to show that if you give him enough talent he can win the big one for you. Since he has already managed in New York, where the glare is so bright you’ve got to wear shades to bed in order to get any shuteye, and he has managed in Japan where it takes as much diplomacy as genius for an American to do well, there is no kind of pressure Red Sox Nation can dump on Valentine to bother him inordinately.

After a 10-year Major League playing career between 1969 and 1979, mostly as a middle infielder, the 61-year-old Valentine turned to managing. He ran the Texas Rangers from 1985 to 1992 and the Mets from 1996 to 2002. Then he embarked for Japan and served as field boss of the Chiba Lotte Marines from 2004 to 2009. Since then he has been waiting for his cell phone to ring or his email to blip offering him another Major League clubhouse to supervise.

Valentine was a hustling player who batted .260 with little power.  Most of his Texas teams were above .500, with a high win total of 87. Valentine steered the Mets to a 97-win season in 1999 and the National League pennant in 2000. In 15 seasons running the two teams he compiled a record of 1,117-1,072. At times Valentine was viewed as too gruff and hard-nosed and he bruised feelings. That image of him seemed at odds with a manager succeeding in Japan, where political correctness reigns supreme and foreigners must tread gently as they absorb local customs.

In 2009, when it was apparent Valentine was on his way back to the United States, Chiba fans were in an uproar, with 50,000 of them signing a petition saying management should keep him. Valentine had previously said they were the best fans in the world. You’ve got to say all of that indicates he bridged any communication gap.

That is particularly interesting because during his younger days in the U.S.–before he returned for two recent years of on-air baseball commentary–Valentine was at times accused of being arrogrant and irritating, of ruffling feathers with unvarnished statements, and not being aware of or concerned with the consequences.

Maybe Valentine has toned his act down somewhat–but d0n’t count on it being Pollyannaish–and given how out-spoken, funny and downright entertaining fans and sports writers won’t want him muzzled, anyway.

What Valentine brings to the Red Sox, besides a strong personality, is knowledge of the game, experience, a strong belief and desire to produce a world champion, and with this organizationhe will have the resources to deliver. At his age Valentine knows this is likely his last dance in the majors and he wouldn’t sign on with Boston if he didn’t think he could lead the representatives of that demanding baseball community to the title.

Certainly detractors of Valentine can be found, players or coaches he rubbed the wrong way when he was managing the Rangers or Mets. But debates about his ability are pretty rare. Tommy Lasorda, the former Los Angeles Dodgers manager who is in the Hall of Fame, raved about Valentine’s savvy in USA Today.

“I always thought he might be the best manager walking the streets in the country,” Lasorda said. “He’s good for baseball. He’s a great speaker. A great communicator. He’ll get them (the Red Sox) right back to where they should be.”

Given the win-now attitude and the sky’s-the-limit payroll, where the Red Sox should be in the minds of the ownership and fans is at the top of the American League East Division, in the playoffs, and winning a third World Series since 2004. Bringing a World Series to Boston would be the capstone of Valentine’s career. As all Fenway Faithful know, managers who have guided Red Sox teams to the world championship are members of a very small club.