“It was invigorating, challenging, and stimulating. All those good things.’’
It appears Valentine has the approval of team president Larry Lucchino and the Red Sox owners, whom he already has met with. The question now is whether rookie general manager Ben Cherington can be comfortable with him.
“Highly intelligent, creative, open-minded,’’ Cherington said of Valentine. “Certainly experienced. He has a real passion for the game.’’
But Valentine is not necessarily the favorite. In a surprise, the Red Sox have invited Tigers third base coach Gene Lamont back for a meeting with ownership. That is expected to take place later this week.
Blue Jays first base coach Torey Lovullo also remains in consideration, but the Sox have eliminated Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. from their search.
There are no plans, Cherington said, to speak with other candidates.
Valentine first became involved with the job on Nov. 3 when he met with Cherington and Lucchino in Hartford.
Valentine and Lucchino were part of a panel discussion about international baseball that evening. Lucchino called Valentine the day before and asked him to arrive early to speak to Cherington about the position.
“I got there about five hours early, I waited around for a couple of hours,’’ Valentine said.
But Cherington ended up presenting Brewers coach Dale Sveum to ownership last week. No offer was made and the Cubs hired Sveum the next day. Valentine remained on the periphery of the search, out of the public eye.
But yesterday Valentine got a chance to prove he would be the right fit. He smartly said he would welcome strategic advice from Cherington and the baseball operations staff.
“I would expect it,’’ he said. “I would hope for it. I haven’t lived with it and I lived hearing about it and thinking about it. This is a growth opportunity for me. I want to understand what is going on in my life and my life is baseball.’’
