SALON

Sunday, Sep 16, 2012 5:00 PM UTC

Valentine tries to explain ‘weakest roster’ remark

By

Topics: From the Wires,

TORONTO (AP) — Bobby Valentine insisted he wasn’t trying to be critical when he said his struggling Red Sox had “the weakest roster we’ve ever had in September in the history of baseball.”

Two days after his latest inflammatory remark, Valentine tried to explain himself before Sunday’s series finale against the Blue Jays, offering an unsolicited clarification at the end of his morning media session.

“The other day when I made a comment about our September roster, that wasn’t meant to be a criticism of any players or anything in the organization,” Valentine said. “It’s a statement of fact because of the injuries and our Triple-A team in the playoffs. This is different. We have less people than most September rosters. We have less positions filled than any September roster I’ve ever seen before.

“Anybody who thought that to be anything other than a statement of what it was, stand corrected on that,” Valentine added.

Last Thursday, the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of Charlotte to win its first International League championship since 1984. Pawtucket will play a one game final against the Pacific Coast League champion Reno Aces, Arizona’s top farm team, in Durham, N.C., on Tuesday.

Before Friday’s game, Valentine was asked what part of his team would benefit most from some extra call-ups.

“Are you kidding?” he responded. “This is the weakest roster we’ve ever had in September in the history of baseball. It could use help everywhere.”

On Sunday, however, Valentine seemed eager to add some context to his comments.

“Usually a September roster has some starting pitchers who are waiting in the wings,” Valentine said. “Ours doesn’t. Usually a September roster has some left-handed pinch hitter type guys, or pinch runners, five or six outfielders. We have four outfielders. It’s not like a September roster.”

Boston has five active outfielders but Ryan Kalish, who had shoulder surgery this season, is not expected to play.

Thanks to victories Friday and Saturday, the Red Sox have moved out of last place in the AL East, percentage points ahead of Toronto.

Boston’s roster has been thinned by trades and injuries. Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez and Nick Punto were dealt to the Dodgers last month, along with injured outfielder Carl Crawford, while veteran Kevin Youkilis was traded to the Chicago White Sox earlier.

Slugger David Ortiz and rookie Will Middlebrooks are two of the five Red Sox currently on the disabled list, a list that also includes long-term absentee John Lackey.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations