Valentine: No miscommunication on Beckett

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, in his weekly interview on The Big Show, disputed the idea that there had been any miscommunication regarding Josh Beckett's sore lat that resulted in a skipped start and the subsequent furor over the pitcher's decision to go golfing at a time when he had ben skipped.

"I don’t think I had much miscommunication. I don’t think I had any miscommunication," said Valentine. "Where’s the confusion with whether he was injured? Where’s the confusion? He didn’t think he was injured. I said he wasn’t injured. Where’s the confusion?"

Valentine said that he was the one who made the decision not to have Beckett start against the Orioles on May 5.

"I walked in the training room. He had a sore lat. I was going to be protective of that situation and skip him a start," said Valentine. "Why is there miscommunication?"

Valentine was asked about his comments made in the previous week's interview that Beckett's decision to go golfing on an off-day, at a time when he was being rested, was "less than the best thing to do."

"I said it would not be a good thing?" Valentine asked. "Maybe he should have been curing cancer. That would be the best way to spend an off-day. Maybe it wasn’t the best way to spend an off-day.

"Don’t read into everything and then there’s not so much confusion," he continued. "I thought this was a simple situation that was totally blown out of proportion. It was blown out of proportion because we had an extra-inning game [a 17-inning game on May 6, during which Beckett wasn't used]. If we didn’t have an extra-inning game, it probably wouldn’t have been brought up. If he didn’t have a short start his next time out [when Beckett got shelled by the Indians], it probably wouldn’t have been brought up. What are you going to do? Those things added to the wonderful drama. But I wouldn’t get into the miscommunication thing."

With Beckett having delivered an overpowering start against the Mariners on Tuesday, tossing seven shutout innings in which he struck out nine for his fifth quality start in seven trips to the mound this year, Valentine expressed optimism that the controversy surrounding Beckett's decision to golf is now behind the Sox.

"In the final analysis, what a guy does on an off-day is his business, and I’ve never seen a guy injure himself playing golf," he said. "I wish I was in the business of summarizing. I’m not. I’m in the business of looking forward and making things happen," said Valentine. "There was a lot of stuff swirling around. For all intents and purposes, Josh got through it quite nicely. On his 32nd birthday, he pitched as good a game as he’s pitched for us this year. I believe he’ll be able to build on that. I like the way things are moving in his direction right now."

To listen to the interview, visit The Big Show audio on demand page. For complete Red Sox coverage, visit weei.com/redsox.