Bobby Valentine Needs to Can the Chatter

OK. We get it. Bobby Valentine is trying to ingratiate himself to Boston Red Sox fans by dissing the Yankees almost every chance he gets. He doesn't seem to know it isn't necessary.

He confessed to hating the Yankees soon after he was hired to succeed Terry Francona, but that might be because he came up in the Dodgers organization and was manager of the Mets. Those in Valentine's demographic—among them, yours truly—remember the Dodger-Yankees rivalry when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn.

The Mets, with some notable exceptions, have always played second fiddle to the Yankees.

Valentine continued poking the bear at the Red Sox spring training site in Fort Myers, Fla., downplaying Derek's Jeter's "flip" play in the third game of the 2001 American League Division Series between the Yankees and the Oakland A's. Jeter cut off an errant relay and sent a backhanded flip to home to throw out Jeremy Giambi.

Valentine claimed Jeter was out of position and essentially got in the way. Jeter said that he actually practiced that play. In the next breath, Valentine praised Jason Varitek, who shoved his catcher's glove and bare hand in the face of Alex Rodriguez during a game in 2004 when A-Rod thought he was being thrown at.

"A man's man," Valentine called Varitek, who is about to announce his retirement. The Yankees would question Varitek's manliness because he was unwilling to remove his catcher's mask in the confrontation with A-Rod.

It's also interesting that Valentine hasn't praised Pedro Martinez for tossing Yankee coach Don Zimmer, who was 72 years old at the time, to the ground like a bag of dirt during another confrontation in 2003.

What is Valentine hoping to accomplish by going out of his way to rile the Yankees? Red Sox president Larry Lucchino already labeled the Yankees the Evil Empire in 2002. Is Valentine trying to convince us he bleeds Red Sox red? 

Perhaps it is all a diversion to put the fried chicken and beer controversy behind the Red Sox. Eating chicken and drinking beer is supposedly responsible, in part, for the team's collapse late last season that ended the tenure of Terry Francona, who won two World Series and ended the curse of the Bambino in Beantown.

When the Mets were blowing September leads twice in recent years, costing themselves the National League East title and a playoff berth, there was no chicken or beer involved. They were choking on something other than the wishbone.

The Red Sox's players aren't going to buy into Valentine because of his hatred of the Yankees, either. They are probably more focused on the fact that he banned beer from the clubhouse, which is like grounding your teenager and taking the keys to his car.

Valentine should have just requested that no one eat or drink alcohol during a game and let it go at that. Frankly, I'd rather have players drinking a beer or two after a game, especially on the road, then going to their hotel room instead of clubbing, where YouTube moments occur.

So far, the Yankees have not really responded to Valentine's taunts. They understand that he is trying to curry favor with fans in Boston and that he loves the spotlight. There is a lot of Rex Ryan in Valentine.

Let's hope he'll get out of his system soon and just concentrate on managing. The Yankee-Red Sox rivalry is decades old and doesn't have to be inflamed.

And Valentine should remember he is no longer on Baseball Tonight.