Valentine to take control of Bosox

Associated Press

BOSTON

Players eating fried chicken and drinking beer in the clubhouse during games. If it didn’t bother Bobby Valentine as a baseball lifer, it would certainly offend his sensibilities as a self-proclaimed gourmet chef.

“He won’t let that happen. There’s no way he’s going to let that happen,” said Tommy Lasorda, Valentine’s manager in the minor leagues and a mentor who encouraged him to try for the Red Sox job.

“There’s times — in all phases of life — when you’ve got to kick them in the [rear] when they need it, and there’s times when you need to hug them if they need it. Your livelihood depends on those guys. You’ve got to have them in the right frame of mind, to be loyal to the organization, to put forth all the effort that they have.”

Boston announced Valentine as its new manager Wednesday, and he will be introduced by the Red Sox at a Fenway Park news conference tonight.

The 61-year-old replaces Terry Francona, who left after eight years in which he guided the Red Sox to two World Series titles but also the biggest September collapse in baseball history. The first job for the former Mets and Rangers manager: Reversing a culture in which players ate takeout fried chicken and drank beer in the clubhouse during games instead of sitting on the bench with their teammates.

“You give loyalty, you’ll get it back. You give love, you’ll get it back,” Lasorda said, “and that’s the way it has to be.”

At a news conference the day he formally interviewed for the job, Valentine said he learned a lot about discipline while managing in Japan. Although the players there are more respectful of authority and less likely to step out of line, he said, they also appreciated having clearly defined rules so they knew where their limits were.

“Discipline is not 30 whacks with a whip these days,” Valentine said.