John Henry supports Valentine -- first draft

Dear Fans,

Hi, I'm John Henry.  You know, I've gotten a lot of questions about Bobby (I can't recall his last name at the moment...is it Smith...anyway) so I'll say the following on the record --to blame Bobby Valentine for the Red Sox being .500 at this point in the season is really a great idea and should be supported because it takes the pressure off of me.  Whew...but you know a  lot has been written about injuries to key players this year. The impact of that on the Sox this year should not be discounted and frankly if you want to blame it all on injuries -- that would make my life easier -- Go LIVERPOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 In baseball, managers often get too much credit and too much blame for what happens on the field but really that's OK since it takes the heat off of me -- GO LIVERPOOL!!!!!. There is often the thought in organizations, "This isn't working so the manager needs to go."  which is why we dumped Tito like a hot towel.  But of course an organization is much more than the field manager. We have the ball girl and ball boy, cleanup crew, the lightbulb changers, lawnmower people etc...and sometimes I think the grass is the problem on the field.   Let me say this -- we are not making a change in manager until the offseason when nobody is looking -- GO LIVERPOOL!

There has been no lack of effort from our players (OK there has been a LOT of lack of effort) and we have had a number of them playing hurt but some even when they play healthy really should not be proud of that when the strike out every single time at bat.  Now I want you to know that I watch every game of LIVERPOOL and the effort those players put in night after night is very clear to see...were we talking about the Red Sox...oh ya.

In regard to the notion that we have somehow not empowered Bobby, you should ask him directly about that -- actually don't because the man makes a total @#$#$ of himself every time he talks which is why we prefer he use American Sign Language or speak in Japanese.  The audience he will offend will be much smaller.

Now we have been nothing but supportive of Bobby something or other inside and outside of the clubhouse which is why we created a great rift with two pitching coaches.  Ah that always cracks me up.

And the notion that we are not present and not attending games is misleading to the public. Tom, Larry and I seldom miss home games because we get free hot dogs and beer which we need to get through the night.  During that Yankee blowout I downed a six pack.  Also, we seldom miss a telecast when on the road if we aren’t there unless I throw a hammer at the TV then we miss it.. This is a 365-day-a-year sport for us – as it is for Ben and for Bobby. Even when we are away we discuss issues daily like does Dark Knight Rises or Dark Knight better define Batman as a character or how about that Mars Rover!. Now just because we aren't answering any media questions doesn't mean we aren't on the job but boy that sounds really bad the way I put that.

Now our commitment to winning is now a distant past. While that was our focus we need to think staying at .500. We continue to have the 2nd highest payroll among the 30 clubs making us the laughing stock of the baseball world. We have been at this for more than 10 years in Boston, and winning is just as much our focus today as it was when we took over -- except its a lot harder now.


Larry -- look this over and see if its OK to publish.