Ben Cherington and the Boston Red Sox have found their guy in new manager Bobby Valentine. Cherington told the media exactly that during Valentine's introductory press conference at Fenway Park on Thursday evening.
"In the end, I'm very confident that we did find the right person in Bobby Valentine,'' said Cherington, who was introduced as Theo Epstein's replacement on October 25. "When I started this process, I said that we were looking for someone who cared about players, who had a strong voice, who was willing to have difficult conversations with players, who could collaborate with the front office and ownership, who could make strong arguments at the right time, someone who was open-minded, and someone who wants to win.
"Based on those criteria, I feel very strongly that we found the right person in Bobby Valentine. He's a native New Englander, he's spent over 40 years in the game, he's managed for parts of 15 seasons in the big leagues, he's been to a World Series as a manager [with the 2000 Mets], he won a title in Japan. He has enormous baseball intellect, he is creative, he is open-minded, and he badly wants to win. I really look forward to working with him as we face the challenges that we have this offseason. He's the right person to lead us into 2012 and beyond.'' (via Boston Globe)
Valentine, who has 15 years of managerial experience between the Texas Rangers and New York Mets, was extremely grateful and appreciative of the job. Valentine added that he understood the difficult process of selecting a manager.
"I understand how difficult this was for the organization because of the outstanding candidates involved in process,'' Valentine said. "I understand the rich tradition of baseball in this city, of sports in this community. I understand the great rivalries this team has. And I understand the great talent that has been assembled here."
Valentine has a career managerial record of 1,117-1,072. He will wear No. 25 in the dugout.
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