Bobby Valentine said his comment about taking a punch at a Boston radio host was meant as a joke, but there is little laughter going on around a Red Sox team that can't seem to go a day without a new controversy. Speaking by phone from Seattle on his weekly WEEI radio interview Wednesday, Valentine took exception when host...
Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine has argued with umpires, and now he has offered to punch a radio host in the mouth - a comment he said was made in jest. Bobby Valentine said his comment about taking a punch at a Boston radio host was meant as a joke, but there is little laughter going on around a Red Sox team that can't seem to go a day without a new controversy.
Speaking by phone from Seattle on his weekly WEEI radio interview Wednesday, Valentine took exception when host Glenn Ordway asked about the perception that he had mentally "checked out'' as manager of a team going nowhere.
"If I were there right now, I'd punch you right in the mouth. Ha-ha. How's that sound - is it like I checked out?'' said Valentine, who was 3,000 miles away in Seattle.
"What an embarrassing thing,'' Valentine said of Ordway's suggestion.
Hours later, he met the media in his usual pregame session before the Red Sox played the Mariners.
"Didn't I go ha-ha? I don't think physical violence for 60-year-old people is necessary,'' Valentine said, describing the comment as humor.
According to tweets after the press conference, Valentine was still upset that his professionalism had been questioned.
The Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson was retweeted by ESPN.com's Gordon Edes for saying Valentine's comment did "draw a line in the sand.''
Edes also retweeted Lou Merloni, who called Valentine "a tough read,'' and noted "a weird laugh'' after the comment about punching Ordway.
Red Sox president Larry Lucchino, who said Valentine will remain as manager for the rest of the season, steered clear of the latest firestorm.
"I don't have any further comment on it. Talk shows are talk shows,'' Lucchino said.
Upset as he became over suggestions he had lost interest, Valentine was even more irate when Ordway related a widely circulated story that the manager had arrived at the Oakland Coliseum after 4 p.m., three hours before gametime.
Normally, the manager is on hand by 2. Valentine defended the episode, which resulted after he picked up his son at the airport in San Francisco, and labeled it "cheap journalism'' by those circulating it in media.
"That's stuff a comic strip person would write ... How could someone in real life say that?'' he said.
Valentine asked who wrote the story. He was told it was reported broadly, though Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe was singled out.
Valentined said he was seeing his son "for the first time on the road in this lousy season,'' as he put it, on Friday. He was detained in traffic and phoned the coaches to tell them the lineup and his situation.
Most of the chuckling over Valentine's latest brouhaha came from Tampa Bay, where Rays manager Joe Maddon was told Valentine had used him as an example.
"Joe Maddon gets (to the park) every day at 4, just for the record,'' Valentine said.
Maddon has been known to arrive by 2:45, though it is true he does not see the point of spending endless hours at Tropicana Field, long before a game.
"Sorry I'm late, I just got here,'' Maddon told media at the Trop Wednesday, according to media reports.
He also tweeted, "apologies to the writers for being late to today's pregame session. My pedicure appointment ran a little late.''
Maddon said he found the day's events "amusing and somewhat flattering.'' While they were yukking it up at Tropicana Field, using the episode as a humor break from the pressures of a playoff race, the situation around the Red Sox is grim.
A 9-16 finish would leave Boston with 90 losses for the first time since 1966.
Valentine and the Red Sox are the focus of a cover story in Sports Illustrated this week, describing the fall of a team that was considered elite as recently as 12 months ago.
He said he wasn't surprised by the story, noting that magazine photographers had been at the ballpark for several days.
"They were waiting for me to do something stupid. I understand that,'' he said.
According to some WEEI callers, Valentine's interview fell into that category. But others defended him, saying the question about picking up his son was contentious, unprofessional and out of bounds.
Ordway defended the question, saying that many fans in Boston have wondered if Valentine's odd responses to questions in recent weeks indicates he is losing his attentiveness.
He also said sports figures complain when conclusions about their reactions or feelings are drawn without being asked.
Valentine asked Ordway for an apology. The host took a more conciliatory tone, but did not offer an apology.
Valentine called this season "miserable,'' but said he did not regret signing on with Boston, a team he thought would give him the best chance of his career to win a World Series.
According to Valentine, "life is a journey. People think misery is something you run from, but I think misery is something you learn from.
"I come to work and give the best I can give them every day. If someone could come in and do better, voila to them,'' Valentine said.
He did not agree with Ordway's suggestion that better pitching would have improved the entire situation.
"This group, for many different reasons - and I might be one of them - didn't come together,'' Valentine said.
He said the rest of the season would be devoted to "small victories.'' They included successful moments for young players, and his attempt to relay his appreciation to veterans like Dustin Pedroia, who he said give maximum effort despite disappointing results.