New Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine is something of an irritating guy. By all counts he’s solid at what he does and is relatively smart, but just the way he carries himself and some of the things he says tend to rub people the wrong way.
One of those people, apparently, is former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling. During a recent interview on the Mut & Merloni Show, here is what he had to say on the decision to hire Valentine (via WEEI):
"I like Bobby. I like him a lot," after working with Valentine at ESPN last season. However, Schilling said, "I thought that the manager that managed the Mets that I was not a big fan of was now going to be a different manager, and I don't think there's anything different at all. And I don't think that that is going to be conducive to doing well here. There's a lot of things I think that are happening not just from his perspective, but when you talk to these guys -- and I'm still talking to some of these guys -- I don't think this is going well. And I think it's going bad quicker than I expected it to."
On Wednesday, Valentine appeared on the Dennis & Callahan show and was predictably asked about Schilling’s comments. His response? Check it out (via WEEI):
Yesterday we had your biggest fan, Karl Ravech, on. … He said to us that you and Curt Schilling hung out, got along great, were friendly when you were down there [at ESPN]. Why do you dismiss him and just say, “Consider the source.” Isn’t he a pretty astute baseball guy?
I think he knows a lot about baseball, and I did hang around with him a bit. I don’t think he knows anything about our team.
Is it do you think because of his affection for Terry Francona?
I have no idea. Why don’t you ask him? He’d probably be a good guest on your show.
Oh, he has been. He says he likes you, he’s a fan of yours, but he doesn’t think your style will work here. You just dismiss it as “Consider the course.” What’s wrong with the source?
You tell me.
You’re the one who said it. I don’t know. I think he’s a pretty good source.
Then it’s credible for you. It just wasn’t credible for me.
Why not?
[Long silence] Next question, thank you.
Look, you can’t really blame Valentine for not knowing how to address Schilling’s criticism, but it does sort of feed into the narrative of him being off-putting. And seeing as the Red Sox are currently off to a 1-5 start, maybe it would be in the guy’s best interest to either a.) stay off the radio or b.) try to come off as a little more likeable while he tries to find his groove.
Something tells us this isn’t the last awkward Bobby Valentine interview we’ll be talking about in the near future.
(Kudos to The Big Lead for the find)
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