First before I wax hypocritical let me clarify that title. Bobby Valentine isn’t professing his admiration for world dictators.
That’s off my chest, now I can say that more than once this season Bobby Valentine will be quoted as saying something stupid. His comments on Kevin Youkilis weren’t completely off-base.
Think about this, since the second-half last season Youkilis hasn’t sniffed an average above .200. He hit .199 in the second-half, .195 in spring training and is sitting at .200 right now. Since September/October of last season he’s hit three home runs (all in spring training 2012) and even his defense has taken a hit.
Now, does this mean he doesn’t care? No. Does it mean that all things considered he’s going through an extended slump that may be leading to some emotional distress in other areas of his game/psyche. Apologies to Red Sox nation, but I don’t think this is that crazy of an assumption.
Players are coming out in defense of Youkilis, which is what I expected. My issue with the whole thing is how the Red Sox (as a whole) seem to be focusing on the wrong things. Playing good baseball should be their concern, and if they can’t see Bobby is trying to put some of that attention on him so they can focus on the field then they have more than these comments to worry about.
