My Funny Valentine

Wait, are people REALLY stunned that Bobby Valentine is picking on his own players?
Are people REALLY saying “How can he say these things about Kevin Youkilis?”

Because he’s Bobby Valentine!
Because he’s a Know It All!
Because he is a button pusher and likes to get under people’s skin!

That’s all on the label when you bought him.
Are these same people also stunned that Ozzie Guillen was going to run his mouth… or Javier Vazquez wasn’t a good fit in New York… or that Milton Bradley was going to melt down?

This is who Bobby V is.
And he isn’t going to be Terry Francona, Mr. Happy and slapping his players on the back. The Red Sox made a change in personnel and philosophy and they brought a guy who has no interest in doing things the way they were.

Hang on for the ride, Sox fans. This is either going to be a great success or a colossal failure. But it will certainly be interesting.

 

I was a guest on the "Lady at the Bat" Podcast

I had a great time yesterday being a guest on Bernadette Pasley’s podcast “Lady at the Bat.”
She also writes theYankee Lady at the Bat blog, which you should check out.

We talked Red Sox/Yankees, the condition of the teams in 2012 and favorite memories of the rivalry. It was a fun time and hopefully we can have her on the Sully Baseball podcast before long. Here’s the link to the Podcast.

 

Posts I wrote about Jackie Robinson

There are a lot of things to say about Jackie Robinson and celebrating his legacy.

Frankly I am too tired to write anything.
Fortunately I HAVE written a bunch and I can link them all up here.

We honor Jackie. But if a few things in history were different, we would have been honoring Monte Irvin.

I don’t understand people who are against everyone wearing #42. It’s a great tribute.

The Red Sox COULD have signed Jackie Robinson. They didn’t. And in 1947 Chuck Stobbs wore #42. That’s almost as cool as Jackie.

Let’s salute the greatest players who never got the shot to play in the majors before Jackie.

A specifically, I honor Hall of Famer Turkey Stearnes, who never got to play in the majors.

I wondered about a potential scenario that could have smashed the color line 9 years before Jackie.

Anyone who says today’s talent pool is shallow needs to think about how Jackie Robinson changed talent forever.

Don’t believe me? Check out how I created All Star teams in 2010 if segregation was still going on.

OK… I think that’s it.
Thank you Mr. Robinson.
America is better because of you.
And baseball is MUCH better because of you.