Former Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz has a new autobiography titled “Papi: My Story” in which he rips his former manager Bobby Valentine. In the book, Ortiz calls Valentine “arrogant,” “disrespectful,” “irrational,’ “clueless,” and “arrogant as hell.”
Valentine managed Boston in 2012 and led the team to a 69-93 record. In Ortiz’s book, he goes on in lengthy detail about how bad the season actually was and how unorthodox Valentines coaching style was.
In one drill during spring training of that season, Valentine had instructed infielders not to call “I got it” when there is a fly ball. Why the skipper thought this drill made sense is beyond me, but maybe there was a method to the madness that we just don’t know.
After listening to Valentine speak to Tiki and Tierney on CBS news, he said that Ortiz just didn’t understand the drill and got upset. The meaning behind the drill was actually so that the outfielder running in on the ball would have control of the play as opposed to the infielder and the outfielder yelling “I got it” at the same time.
Clearly Valentine makes a case here and he is correct on trying to keep the players safe, but it turns out it was not just this drill, but in fact many other drills that the former manager had a tough time explaining to the team.
Many players who were a part of the 2012 team thought Valentine lived in his own world and lacked communication skills according to Ortiz’s new book.
The team that year, was by no means a bad team on paper, but they clearly had issues off the field and in the dugout with the manager, and any team that doesn’t like their manager usually struggles during the season.
