Following another turbulent Sox week, owners Tom Werner, Larry Lucchino and John Henry have put themselves in a very tough position. By issuing statements, attending road games, and even being guests in the NESN booth, they are coming down hard on the side of Bobby Valentine.
On the other hand, many writers and fans want to see Bobby V fired. A Globe column by Christopher Gasper compared him to Captain Queeg. For younger fans, Queeg was the main character in a World War 2 novel and movie starring Humphrey Bogart. Bogey plays the paranoid captain of a mine-sweeper who becomes increasingly worse until he is hated by all of his men. When Queeg has a breakdown in the middle of a storm that threatens the ship, the crew mutinies and removes him from command. Later on at the trial, the captain again shows mental symptoms and the mutineers are acquitted.
Valentine, however, is no Queeg. He is a man put in a very difficult position. He was hired to manage a team that had just run a manager out of town. He had been out of the dugout for a number of years. His newly-appointed GM apparently wanted someone else for the job, but was overruled. The squad has had an incredible number of injuries. Now come rumors- still unsubstantiated- of groups of players calling for his dismissal.
The next few weeks will be eventful ones for the team. If they finish, say, five or more games under .500 (this has not happened since 1997) the pressure will grow to make a change. But what manager will want to come into a situation where the players appear to have gotten rid of two skippers in two years? Competent men like John Farrell will see the situation as a mess and stay away.
The best thing ownership can do is to say that Bobby will be here for the remainder of his contract. If players don’t like it, they might be sitting on the bench or in Seattle or Kansas City next year. Will all the publicity, free agents will almost certainly steer clear of coming to Boston, but I believe they should rebuild from within. The remainder of 2012 will go a long way to determining the Sox future for years to come.
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