ESPN

A 1-5 start hasn’t sent new Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine into panic mode.

“I don’t see anything wrong with this team,” Valentine said on his weekly spot on The Michael Kay Show on ESPN New York 1050. “I think a lot of things are going to go right real soon.”

Boston hosts Tampa Bay in its home opener at 2:05 p.m. on Friday. Valentine didn’t sense any anger from fans about the slow start when he walked around his new city Thursday.

“I sensed a lot of caring for sure, people are into it, and I heard a lot more words of support than anything else. They could be a little frustrated, no doubt about that, I am,” Valentine said. “As a friend of mine who deals with football said this morning, this is like the fourth minute of opening day of an NFL season. What’s the panic all about?”

Detroit swept Boston to start the season and the Red Sox just lost two of three to Toronto. The bullpen has failed early this season, especially Alfredo Aceves and Mark Melancon. The former Yankees have blown two of the first three save opportunities and have 27.00 and 36.00 ERAs, respectively. Valentine believes the pair has the fortitude to handle the closer role while closer Andrew Bailey is sidelined with a thumb injury.

While the natural reaction would be to move new starter Daniel Bard back to the bullpen, where he starred in the past, that’s not Boston's plan at the moment.

“We’d be foolish if we haven’t had that conversation about (moving him back to the bullpen),” Valentine said. “At this time where our situation is set up, he’s going to stay right where he is and we might adjust things as they go on, but I don’t see any reason to do it right now.”

When the Red Sox host the Yankees on April 20 and honor the 100^th year of Fenway Park, former manager Terry Francona, who was fired after last season’s meltdown, will not be present. Valentine said the former manager will be “truly missed” if he’s not in attendance.

“I think Terry is as much a part of Red Sox history and Red Sox Nation as anyone,” he said.

Valentine’s weekly appearance on ESPN New York 1050 has created a stir, and the Red Sox manager seemed puzzled as to why there would be outcry from both Yankees and Red Sox fans about his appearances on a rival town’s radio station.

“I guess they think there aren’t people that care about the Red Sox or care about baseball who listen to your station, they think there are only people that bleed that navy blue Yankees or whatever it is, or the orange and blue Mets,” Valentine said. “I happen to know there’s a lot of people that listen in the New York metropolitan area that give a damn about the Red Sox and I’m glad that I have the chance to be with you every week.”

You can listen to the full interview here.

Bobby Valentine may have already ratcheted up the rhetoric between the Yankees and Red Sox, but he doesn't feel any pressure going into the Red Sox' first game on Thursday against Detroit.

"I think pressure is when you are unprepared for something and you get surprised," Valentine said on the debut of his weekly appearance on ESPN New York 1050's Michael Kay Show.

Valentine has New York experience and is something of a legend in Japan as a manager. But Boston is unique.

"It is different because it is different," Valentine said.

Valentine also addressed his latest controversies.

* On ESPN anaylst Curt Schilling saying things are not going to work well for the Sox with Valentine. Valentine said he will not discuss Schilling's comments with him.

"What for?" Valentine said. "I see no reason for that. That's for sure."

How about if Schilling broached it?

"I could care less," Valentine said. "I have big things to worry about, real things to worry about it."

* On closer Andrew Bailey being out until around the All-Star Break with a thumb injury

"It is a little bit of a surprise," Valentine said. "The one thing that we really never got to do is have guys pitch out of the bullpen how they might be doing it during the regular season. You like to line that stuff up and get guys kind of passing the baton. Andrew came as a little bit of a surprise. We kept thinking he was going to be able to pitch the next time out."

Valentine said Alfredo Aceves will be his main closer with Mark Melancon possibly receiving some chances.

"I like Alfredo Aceves in that spot," Valentine said. "He has been pitching as a starter most of spring training with the thought that he could also be the closer if anything happened and something happened and he is ready."

* Josh Beckett looks "like he is ready to go." Beckett has his own thumb issue, but Valentine says he is fine.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi was naturally preoccupied with the injury to Joba Chamberlain on Friday, but he was asked about Bobby Valentine's postgame comments following Thursday night's 4-4 tie with the Red Sox.

The new Boston manager was irked that he had a pitcher warming up for the top of the 10th inning when Girardi asked the umpires to call the game, because he had run out of pitchers.

"It was regretful that [Clayton] Mortensen warmed up and we were told we were not playing any extra innings," Valentine said. "I didn't think that was very courteous."

"I gotta worry about our club," Girardi sad after Yankees' 6-4 win over the Twins in Tampa. "The day before, I was approached in the eighth inning [by the umpires], 'Did we have extra pitchers?,' when we were at Tampa. I wasn’t approached last night.

"As I said, I gotta worry about our club, and keeping our club healthy, and not putting people in bad situations, and making sure our club is ready to play. And he has to do the same thing for his club."

Girardi said he would have been open to just playing the top of the 10th, so that Mortensen could have pitched. (Mortensen was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday.)

When pressed further about Valentine's comments, Girardi said, "I don’t really know what he said. As I said, I’m worried about our club. I’ve had a few things to handle today, that I’m much more worried about. And I’ll continue to worry about our club."

Some highlights:

• “I thought they had too much pitching before. Now what do they have? Too, too much pitching?"

• “He’s pretty good. Is he going to be a starter? Or just come in to pick people off?”

• “I don’t think he’s coming back to where he was,” Valentine said. “Call it a hunch."

Head on over to the Sawx Blog for the full post.

There are no fake mustaches. There is no commenting on other teams. There is no extra mustard.

Not with Joe Girardi, anyway. What you see is what you get.

Girardi is no Bobby Valentine -- and he doesn't want to be.

As far as entertainment, there is no comparison between the two. Valentine spent Monday waving goodbye to the ejected Ozzie Guillen. Girardi was his usual, intentionally bland self.

When talking about the Yankees' exhibition tonight, Valentine sarcastically said, "I won't be able to sleep. This will be a big one. We want to set the tone [Tuesday.] We really want to let them know who we are. Send a message.”

Girardi doesn't believe in sending messages -- sarcastic or otherwise -- through the media. He approaches his job more as just, well, a job, like anyone else's.

He thinks Tuesday is just as meaningless as Valentine apparently does, but Girardi says it in his own way.

"I'm sure there will be a different excitement level in the stands," Girardi said. "I'm not so sure our players will get to caught up in it during the season. You have to go out and play. There is always a different atmosphere in the stands."

Girardi also won't look to address anything with Valentine.

"I worry about my club," Girardi said. "I worry about my present-day club. I'm not worried about three years ago, a year ago, 10 years ago. I'm worried about now. Tomorrow. Today."

Ultimately, the side shows don't matter. Managers are judged by the final score, and the two men leading the Yankees and Red Sox know that.

UP NOW: My column on Reggie Jackson saying Bobby V's brain will add to the rivalry, not his mouth. Jackson also rips Jason Varitek, if you like that sort of thing.

ON-DECK CIRCLE: First pitch from Ivan Nova will be at 7:05 p.m. The Red Sox will be starting Felix Doubront. The clubhouse will be open from 1:25 to 2:25 p.m. We will be on the blog all day and night. Thanks for reading.

IN THE HOLE: At 11:15 a.m., I will post a fun story about CC Sabathia, Bo Jackson, James Worthy and Magic Johnson.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Would you rather have a manager like Bobby Valentine or Joe Girardi?

I know, I know, I'm biased, but I always love Wally's columns, even though I don't always agree with them. This one is a keeper.

Here is the lead:

On the day Bobby Valentine invented baseball, that is not the way he drew up the relay play.

The way he figured it out, on the ball hit to right field, the shortstop is supposed to go out and take the deep relay, the second baseman backs him up and the first baseman is the floater, roaming the infield for an overthrow and deciding whether the play should be to home or to third.

Here is the end:

It's barely been 60 days on the job but already, Valentine seems more obsessed with the Yankees than Ahab was with the whale, and we all know how that one turned out.

But the chase was fun while it lasted and with Valentine in Boston, this chase will be fun again, too.

The Man Who Invented Baseball vs. the team that holds the patent on winning. Now that's a matchup that should hold our interest through this summer, and few more after that.

I recommend reading the rest of it. Here is the link again.

If you know Bobby Valentine, you know he can't help himself. So the second he put the hat with the "B" on his head, you knew there would be subtle and not-so-subtle digs at his team's main rivals.

So Valentine dug in today, and, in praising the retiring Jason Varitek, he lauded him for beating up Alex, as in Al B. Al, Alex Rodriguez:

"From afar, he was everything you want a guy who wears a 'C' to be," Valentine said of Varitek, according to our teammate, Gordon Edes. "He was a man's man, he was a big hitter when needed, he was the leader of the pitching staff. (Pause). He was able to beat up Alex, all that stuff. He was exactly what he was supposed to be."

Earlier today, Valentine took a shot at Derek Jeter's legendary cutoff in the 2001 ALDS against the A's:

"We'll never practice that,"’ Valentine said, again according to Gordon. "I think [Jeter] was out of position and the ball gets [Giambi] out if [Jeter] doesn't touch it, personally."

This is Valentine, at work -- and he is a piece of work. These are just subtle shots, either by design or because he can't help himself.

But, it doesn't matter, if he has a method to his madness -- and, I think, there is -- Valentine's impact will be felt from Fort Myers to Tampa because players and managers could be asked about them.

I have a feeling Joe Girardi might become a little sick of it. Somehow, though, I don't think Valentine will mind.

He is a one-man Boston Tweak Party.

Question: What do you think of Valentine's comments?

Mark Teixeira has been working out at Bobby Valentine's Sports Academy in Stamford, Conn. for the last two years. The Yankees first baseman even bought a pitching machine for the facility so he could use it to get his work in during the offseason.

But a funny thing happened to Teixeira after Valentine was named manager of the Red Sox.

"He didn't change the locks, but as soon as he got the Red Sox job, I go in the next morning, and the first ball out of the machine was right at my head," Teixeira joked after receiving an award at the 32nd Annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner in midtown.

"Now, I don't know if it was just a bad ball or if the gears jammed, but whatever happened we had to get a technician in there to fix it."

Teixeira hasn't had a chance to talk Valentine yet.

"He hasn't been around. I think he's pretty busy right now," Teixeira said. "But it's funny, I love the staff at Bobby V's and we always joke around. After he got the job, they hung up some banners: a Red Sox banner first, then a Yankees banner then a Mets banner. And I told them when Bobby comes, I'm gonna make sure that they take the Red Sox banner down."

Teixeira thinks the Giants are going to beat the Patriots 27-24 in Super Bowl XLVI.

"In the postseason -- whether it's baseball, basketball or football -- it's all about being healthy and getting hot. And the Giants are both right now. I think they're going to win and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Giants fan. I just think they're the better team right now."

Seeing the Yankees trade their young catcher, Jesus Montero, didn't come as a surprise to new Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine.

"I thought that was kind of in their plans," Valentine said on Sunday at Rippowam Middle School in his hometown of Stamford, Conn. "He helped their plans come to fruition by the way he played that last month of the season. I didn't really ever think he was going to be their catcher of the future but maybe."

Valentine, who is never one to shy away from giving his opinion, previously didn't seem that impressed that the Yankees acquired touted rookie pitcher Michael Pineda from Seattle in exchange for Montero.

"Pineda, when I saw him in the first half (last season), he looked unhittable. In the second half, he looked OK," Valentine told reporters in mid-January. "I don't know. (Seattle) saw a lot of him, and they traded him."

While Valentine said the trade didn't surprise him, he did not elaborate on why. The Yankees also traded away reliever Hector Noesi in the deal and received a minor league pitcher.

"I don't know," Valentine said when asked if he thought Montero was going to be used as a trade chip in the future. "I don't know what the Yankees are doing, I think Brian (Cashman) is a real smart guy, one of the great managers in the game of baseball, and I don't know what his plan was."

Though the new manager has been making national headlines since taking over as Boston's skipper, he did not make any proclamations or take any shots at the Yankees. He was talking at his old high school as part of an Annual Hot Stove Report to sponsor Ed Randall's Fans For the Cure.

Valentine said he had no idea if Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is still the same player he used to be. He also said doesn't know who is the AL East favorite and did not compare his pitching staff to the rest of division for lack of knowledge on other rotations as well as his own.

"Right now, it looks like it's really tough, the AL East, but the entire American League looks like it's incredibly tough," Valentine said. "I'll know a lot more about it when I see it up close and personal, that's for sure."

The former Mets manager praised former Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who retired earlier this week after 17 seasons in Pinstripes.

"It means that he had a fabulous career, a guy with one team with that many rings, meaning that much to his community and his teammates," Valentine said of what Posada's loss will mean to the Yankees. "He'll be missed, his presence will be missed, that's for sure."

Since he's only in his first few months as the manager, Valentine said he does not believe that he has experienced the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry in full force just yet. The Red Sox will face the Yankees for the first time this season on April 20 at Fenway Park.

"But what I have experienced has been mind-boggling," Valentine said. "The knowledge, just to know what I look like, it seems like they know what car I drive and they're always there to say something special and right now everything that been said is 'Welcome to Boston and good luck with Boston' and I love that. I'm sure that will change a little. I hope what it changes to is 'Great job with Boston."

Bobby Valentine didn't say he hates the Yankees but in trademark "V" fashion, he did his best to dull the excitement. This is from the Providence Journal's Red Sox blog.

"They're probably an upgrade from [Bartolo] Colon and [Freddy] Garcia," Valentine said on Saturday morning. "Probably. I don't know. It seems it."

He did talk about the potential flaws for each pitcher.

"Pineda, when I saw him the first half, he looked unhittable. Second half, he looked OK," said Valentine. "[The Mariners] saw a lot of him and they traded him.

"Kuroda is a good pitcher -- a year older than he was last year, pitching in the American League and not the National League, pitching in not a great pitcher's ballpark from a great pitcher's ballpark."

It is classic Valentine, but, at least, he is tweaking his rival. I remember after the Mets traded for Roberto Alomar and everyone was praising Valentine's boss/enemy Steve Phillips, Valentine, during the post press conference, questioned why the Indians were eager to trade Alomar. The Yanks are hoping Valentine isn't as clairvoyant this time.

Joe Girardi responded to Bobby Valentine’s “I hate the Yankees” comments by trying to avoid adding any venom. Girardi was mostly non-confrontational as he tried to downplay what will be a topic throughout the year, but he did subtly question where Valentine’s “hate” came from.

“You know what I respect the Red Sox and what they do and the task that we have in trying to win our division and how tough our division is,” Girardi said at the Yankees’ food drive on Wednesday. “I don’t know how feelings happen overnight. I’ve never been taught that is how feelings happen.”

There has been discrepancy on whether Valentine’s comments were made tongue-in-cheek or not, but people who have been around Valentine a lot know he is very calculating so Valentine’s words were not by mistake. He knew his "hate" comments would garner headlines, which they did. He also knows they will stoke the rivalry even further, causing Girardi and the Yankees to have to answer questions about them. Valentine has a way of getting under his opponents' skin.

Andrew Marchand talks to Karl Ravech about Bobby Valentine's comments and which Yankees free agents the Bombers want to bring back.

Good morning.

Today, there is the Rule V Draft and then everyone takes off.

I wrote a column saying the Bobby Valentine and his comments will be bring back the vintage Rivalry?

Here is the Question of the Day: Do you think the Rivalry will be better with Bobby V instigating?

Bobby V: I hate the Yankees.

"Bobby adds some spunk to his clubs," Joe Girardi said. "No doubt about it. I didn't get to witness him first-hand a lot. But Bobby's been successful wherever he has went. It should be exciting."