Amazin' Avenue, a New York Mets community

Sam Page(!) brings the research, insight, and humor in this piece about the frequently-fired Bobby V.

New Red Sox skipper Bobby Valentine appeared on SiriusXM's morning show Evan & Phillips in the Morning earlier today. Bobby V.'s former boss, Steve Phillips, is the latter in that duo -- but if you think wounds are still fresh, it sounded this morning like you're mistaken.

Red Sox fans are generally dismayed by the hiring of Bobby Valentine, largely due to his unenlightened on-air persona on ESPN. However, a cursory look through the NY Times archive turns up plenty of evidence that Valentine knows more than he lets on.

Per Larry Stone of the Seattle Times: "Those close to Valentine say that he was very interested in managing the Mariners, despite their 101-loss season in 2010. But in a phone call this morning from Jack Zduriencik, Valentine was told they were going in a different direction."

Mostly about Bobby Valentine's time with Chiba Lotte Marines and how he was "forced out." *The article is in English. Note: "First in a four-part series"