Valentine on critics: 'It's been personal'

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, in a pregame interview with NESN host Tom Caron, suggested that the criticism directed at him has "always been personal" and driven by "agendas," not just during his time in Boston but throughout his managerial career and life.

"It's always been personal. All year, it's been personal," said Valentine. "But when you start dealing with integrity, start dealing with whether I'm a truthful person, whether I'm going to give a full day's work, and then when it comes to dealing with my family and how much they mean to me or should mean to me, that's over the line, and I'm not going to take it here in the dugout and I won't take it on a radio or TV show, thank you very much."

Valentine added that he does believe that the criticisms of him take a different form than do those directed at his managerial peers.

"I don't think it's personal with a lot of managers. But with me, there's guys with agendas and they've made it personal, but who cares? I'm all ready for that. I've been there, done that," Valentine told Caron. "I understand little people. I understand agendas. I've learned, in my life, to live with that -- not here in Boston; my whole life."

Asked if he was ready for such forms of criticism in Boston, Valentine said, "Of course. Are you kidding? Of course."

Valentine also discussed the Sox' recent 1-8 roadtrip, suggesting that it represented a roster that "just played up to our talent. A lot of times, we were just a little short." 

That said, even though the team endured one of its most difficult roadtrips in memory, Valentine suggested that both he and the Red Sox continue to demonstrate full effort.

"Pride is one of those things, when you're playing in front of people who pay to see you play, you're professional, it's on television, you have teammates whose won and loss records will go with them to their grave, I never understand the idea of not playing as hard as you can or giving anything less than everything you have that day," said Valentine. "That's what I do when I wake up in the morning. That's what I think this group does, too."

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