March 2012
Curt Schilling gets pwn3d by Josh Beckett
Lol, from Craig Calcaterra @ Hardball Talk comes this follow-up to today’s “Curt Schilling “Red Sox are growing tired of Valentine already” headlines:
Curt Schilling said that the Red Sox players hate Bobby Valentine. Josh Beckett then turned around with this:
Josh Beckett on WEEI responding to Curt Schilling’s comments on Bobby V:
“I haven’t seen him around this year. Is he one of our pitchers?”
No, Josh. He’s not. He’s just that sad old guy who keeps hanging around his old high school, telling everyone about how it used to be. Go ahead, ask him: he’ll tell you how he scored four touchdowns in a single game that one time.
Sounds about right, except as big a mouth as Schilling has (and it’s quite friggin large) he doesn’t tend to make shit up. He is just more than willing to offer up his opinion on things going on around him (and others), regardless of whether or not you want to hear them.
There is quite a distinct difference between those two things.
Look, at face value I don’t doubt much of anything Schilling said.
There are eight guys on that roster who played with him (Bucholz, Papi, Youk, Pedroia, Jacoby, Lester, Dice K and Beckett).
While it’s probably safe to say Beckett isn’t his “source”, it is quite plausible that Schilling has talked to people about this (there are things that make it possible to communicate without being around the guys Josh, you know, like phones).
Add to that little factoid the stark reality that it’s been a controversial spring for Valentine.
One of his first mantras as Sox manager was banning alcohol from the clubhouse after reports surfaced last season of pitchers eating fried chicken and drinking in the clubhouse while the team went through an epic meltdown in September, losing 20 of 27 games and getting eliminated from playoff contention on the season’s final day.
Early in spring training, he ripped Derek Jeter’s famous flip play against the A’s in the 2001 playoffs (he later apologized), and credited retiring catcher Jason Varitek for punching out Alex Rodriguez in a 2004 fight.
Just last week, he raised a stink after a game against the Yankees ended in a tie bla bla bla, and it it isn’t hard to envision his “Bobby Me!” act could start to wear thin on some people.
It is conceivable that Schilling is hitting the nail on the head with this one, but the only that is for certain is this:
Gonna be one damn interesting year in Bean Town.
Rut R’oh: Curt Schilling “Red Sox are growing tired of Valentine already.”
From MassLive.com:
Bobby Valentine just can’t win.
The polarizing Red Sox manager reportedly has a growing rift with general manager Ben Cherington, and now he’s believed to be falling out of favor with his players.
Speaking on WEEI earlier this week, former pitcher Curt Schilling said that several players have complained to him about Valentine’s behavior.
“I thought that the manager that managed the Mets that I was not a big fan of was now going to be a different manager, and I don’t think there’s anything different at all,” Schilling said. “And I don’t think that that is going to be conducive to doing well here. There’s a lot of things I think that are happening not just from his perspective, but when you talk to these guys — and I’m still talking to some of these guys — I don’t think this is going well. And I think it’s going bad quicker than I expected it to.”
Schilling said that for all of Valentine’s wisdom, he isn’t very good at managing people, which was one of Terry Francona’s strengths.
“One of (Francona’s) strengths I think was understanding that to be a great big league manager, you don’t have to know when to hit and run, bunt and change pitchers as much as you need to manage people,” Schilling said. “I think the major league manager has so little to do with wins and losses, more so in baseball than just about in any sport.”
He also said that the players don’t like how much attention Valentine has brought to the clubhouse.
“The point I made the other night was that he’s doing a lot of things right now that are forcing his players to extend their media involvement to answer questions about him and the situation when it’s already a challenge enough to do it, to play in this market and to win,” he said.
“Any time you introduce the wild card — the guy who’s going to flip over the spread or throw something against the wall or act and react in an unpredictable way — it’s not a positive thing.”
Indians restructure contract for the artist formerly known as Fausto Carmona
The Cleveland Indiansstill don’t know if Roberto Hernandez, formerly known as Fausto Carmona, will pitch for them this season – or again.
So while awaiting the outcome to his strange case, the club restructured the right-hander’s contract.
Hernandez, recently cleared of false identity charges in the Dominican Republic, will make $2.5 million as a base salary in 2012 and can earn an additional $2.7 million in performance and roster bonuses. He had been scheduled to make $7 million this season, but the club renegotiated the amount while adding incentives for innings pitched, starts and days on the 25-man roster.
According to contract terms obtained by the AP, Hernandez will receive $200,000 when he reaches 20, 23 and 26 starts and for 150, 170 and 185 innings. In addition, he’ll get $250,000 for 95 days on the roster and then $250,000 for every 15 days up until 165.
The Indians also reduced a $9 million option for 2013 to $6 million, with any bonuses reached in 2012 tacked on. He can earn another $3 million next season in bonuses based on innings pitched.
Hernandez was arrested on Jan. 19 outside the U.S. consulate in Santo Domingo, where officials discovered his name was not Carmona – as the Indians new him as for a decade – and that he was 31 years old and not 28 as the team had believed.
The Dominican government dropped charges against him last month after Hernandez completed a work program in which he met with young players and discouraged them from changing their names to play in the U.S. Hernandez has said he wanted to come forward an reveal his true identity but was “scared to reveal what happened” after other players were caught lying about their names and birthdates.
He applied for a visa to rejoin the Indians, who were forced to make moves in case Hernandez was not allowed to return. It’s not known if Hernandez’s application has been reviewed by U.S. authorities.
Hernandez was also placed on Major League Baseball’s restricted list. As he sorts out his legal entanglement, Carmona has been working out and pitching in the Dominican Republic. The Indians have stayed in touch with him throughout the process and have even videotaped him at their baseball academy in the Dominican to track his progress.
Hernandez, who signed with Cleveland’s organization as a free agent in 2000, has had a tumultuous career with the Indians.
After going 1-10 mostly as a reliever in 2006, he went 19-8 the following season, forming a 1-2 combination with CC Sabathia that helped Cleveland get to the ALCS. Hernandez was on the brink of stardom, but after going 8-7 in 2008, he was sent to the low minor leagues in 2009 to work on his mechanics and psyche.
He bounced back and won 13 games in 2010, and although his record didn’t show it, Hernandez, who started the season opener in 2011, stayed injury free and provided valuable innings while going 7-15 with a 5.25 ERA in 32 starts.
At this point, the Indians can only hope he makes another one.
