(I wrote this last Sunday, and sat on it because everyone was in Citi mode, and I like to hang onto "generic" pieces for when there is nothing going on. I'm releasing it now because Murray Chass just wrote a hatchet piece on Bobby Valentine, and I know how the blogosphere works...)
Anytime I don't kneel before V I get attacked...and Chass isn't the most popular person in Flushing these days because he, um, wonders about Piazza's acne...so I'll let Chass lead off.
....in 15 years of managing in the major leagues, Valentine never had a team finish in first place. In fact, only Jimmy Dykes managed more games (2,962 to 2,187) without finishing first.
Dykes, however, played on three teams that finished in first place so Valentine’s combined 2,826 games played and managed are the most without finishing first in baseball history. (Valentine’s 2000 Mets played in the World Series but as the wild card. They finished second during the season.)
That's always been my issue with the legend of Bobby V. Chass goes on to talk about some personal issues he has with the man. You can read about those here...
So while V is in the news...here's what I didn't publish Sunday when I saw the WBC piece:
Want To Finish Second in the 2013 WBC? Manager for Hire
The man who convinces everyone he wins, except for the winning part, is looking for a job:
“I think they would be a bit worried about me against them."
That's Bobby Valentine talking about leading the Americans to a WBC victory over Japan in 2013.
Valentine said he would conduct in-depth interviews with players to determine who was willing to do the necessary work to prepare for a tournament that begins a month before the regular season. In addition, Valentine said part of the evaluation process would involve finding players with strong career statistics in March.
Oh boy. Does that include spring training, or just going two for four on a Sunday Night Baseball season opener?
“If this is a real championship, why should there be any pitch limits?” Valentine said. “Do you think it is right that the rest of the world of baseball has to be told what to do by MLB?”
Awesome. Can you imagine Mike Pelfrey's arm being blown out by V in March so that Bobby can prove to everyone how awesome he is?
Hopefully Bobby gets a job in the NL East, there will be one fewer team to worry about. Sure they'll win 86 games, but they'll be eight in back on April 30, so you won't need to worry about them winning the division.
Let the attacks begin! There's a comments button below.
More in the Times.
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