WHY VALENTINE IS BASEBALL'S UNCLE RICO

Leave it to Bobby Valentine to comment on a play that happened in 2001. Welcome to the party Bobby, but compliments go a whole lot further. If you don't know what I'm referring too, Bobby Valentine is trying to be relevant, so he criticized the 1 guy that shouldn't have to be criticized, our Captain Derek Jeter. Read ESPN's Gordon Edes interview HERE.

Look, I'll explain the whole thing in a moment, but there's not a lot for me to say about this, because I don't want to waste everyone's time. Bobby V is a spec in my life, and the spec in Horton Hears a Who is more important to me than him. Do I respect Bobby V? I do or should I say I did, but I don't exactly fear him. His problem is he's supposed to be a "brilliant" baseball mind, but for some reason, he's never won a blessed thing in Major League Baseball and always seems to comment on things he really doesn't have a grasp of. The reality is Bobby must have found an old handbook in the Red Sox Spring Training locker room on how to try and tick off Yankee fans, it must have been left behind by Jimy Williams or Joe Kerrigan when they managed the Sox, because what you're about to read is both silly and un-important years later. Bobby said this in reference to Jeter's flip play in 2001:
"We'll never practice that... I think [Jeter] was out of position and the ball gets [Giambi] out if [Jeter] doesn't touch it, personally. That was amazing that (Jeter) was there. I bet it's more amazing that he said he practiced it. I don't believe it.''

Look. This happened years ago. After it happened, a humble Derek Jeter tried to take the spotlight off himself making that dynamic play and instead he complimented Yankees training. Anyone listening to Jeter knew he was deflecting because he's about TEAM... at least I did.
But let's get back to the play, and then we'll analyze what Kermit the frog was saying... The "flip" play is in every highlight real in all of baseball to this day. Clearly it's one of the biggest plays ever. If the play was so controversial, where was Bobby when the play actually happened? Why didn't he say anything then?

Look, the reality is, no one really cares what Bobby says about this. He wasn't part of the Athletics team in 2001 and we all know what this is about... Bobby V still has sour grapes that the Yankees beat the Mets in 2000. He was so close to winning anything important in American baseball and the Yankees took it away from him. This managerial job that Bobby has with the Sox now isn't about the Sox at all, it's about revenge and that managerial opening in Boston was the perfect way for him to attempt to get that revenge. My take on this is simple... Whether or not Derek Jeter was supposed to be there or not to flip to Jorge Posada is irrelevant. Suggesting that the throw from Shane Spencer in right field may have went to Posada without Jeter's help is irrelevant. Why? Because we don't know what would have happened and in the end, we have what we have, Jeter appearing to save the day in Game 3 of the 2001 ALDS. Whether you think Jeter should have been there or shouldn't have does not matter, it happened and one thing that I notice from most ballplayers who respect one another is they comment fondly on highlights. No, Bobby now falls right into place; a miserable Sox manager who's world is crumbling around him with the now departure of Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield and no more beer and chicken in the clubhouse. Why wouldn't Bobby just compliment a fellow ballplayer for a job well done? He can't because this manager job is about sour grapes. The 2000 World Series loss is stuck in his head, like Uncle Rico and 1982 in Napoleon Dynamite except both he and Uncle Rico can't get back to try and fix things. No, you can only try and fix it now and if that means flapping your gums to do it, Bobby will do that. Losing the 2000 World Series hurt Bobby and he'll never got over it. Ironically, it was Derek Jeter who won the World Series MVP that year.

So, is this story about Bobby complaining about something that happened years ago important? Nope, it's just diarrhea of the mouth. Get used to it Yankees fans and don't get too wrapped up in it, because the reality is, Bobby Valentine is my Uncle Rico. He just wants to go back try and change fate and if that means taking shots at baseball greats now to try and be relevant... well... so be it.


By the way, for more fun at Bobby Valentine's expense... check out Bronx Goblin HERE.

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