Call it an attempted mutiny by social media.
In a new-age twist on the age-old baseball practice of going over a manager’s head in an attempt to get him fired, disgruntled Red Sox players took to a smartphone last month to let team ownership know they had had their fill of manager Bobby Valentine.
According to a report yesterday by Yahoo Sports, which cited multiple, unidentified sources, the Boston players sent a group text message to team owners John Henry and Larry Lucchino. That text promptly led to a rancorous July 26 meeting between a group of players — spearheaded by first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and second baseman Dustin Pedroia — and representatives of ownership and management in Manhattan, where the team had an off day before a three-game series with the Yankees.
The final straw — in the minds of the players, who had been unhappy with their new manager for one reason or another since spring training — was Valentine leaving pitcher Jon Lester in too long during his July 22 start versus the Blue Jays in which he allowed 11 runs and four homers.
Not all of the Red Sox players attended the meeting, the report said. According to Yahoo, the meeting quickly turned ugly with some players declaring they no longer wanted to play for Valentine,. the former Mets and Rangers manager who returned to major league baseball this season after a decade away.
Valentine, who spent a good chunk of that time managing in Japan where he won a championship, took over a Red Sox team whose collapse last September led to the firing of Terry Francona, whom the players revered.
First-year Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington, who had Valentine shoved down by his throat by Lucchino and Henry during the offseason, confirmed the “productive” meeting to Yahoo, but declined to provide specifics. Cherington said it is “not uncommon for complaints to be made during the season.”
After taking two of three from the Yankees, the Red Sox — who have been beset by injuries all season and traded away third baseman Kevin Youkilis in June after he clashed with Valentine — had gone 6-9 since the meeting heading into last night’s game in Baltimore.
The Red Sox were 57-59, 11 games behind the first-place Yankees and 5 1/2 games out of the American League’s second wild-card berth.
Both Henry and Cherington recently gave Valentine a vote of confidence.
“To blame Bobby Valentine for the Red Sox being .500 at this point in the season is simply wrong,” Henry wrote in an email.
“Bobby is our manager and we’re not considering anyone else,” Cherington said.
Asked last night at Camden Yards about the report of the players’ meeting with team brass, Valentine told reporters he was surprised by it.
“I’m glad July is over because they are still playing for me,” he said. “I don’t know what issues they might be referring to. Dustin and I talked. That’s a meeting I had. But I don’t know if it was in July.”
Ater last night’s 7-1 loss to the Orioles, Pedroia said he doesn’t want to see a new manager.
“I don’t think Bobby should be fired,” he said. “We haven’t played well. That’s the bottom line.’’