Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine and shortstop Mike Aviles both denied a report that they had an incident during spring training, The Boston Globe reports.
Bobby ValentineBoston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine and shortstop Mike Aviles both denied a report that they had an incident during spring training, The Boston Globe reports.
Over the weekend, the New York Daily News reported the two had a “very ugly scene” after Valentine “got all over” Aviles during a fielding drill. That resulted in a “near player revolt” and upset players confronting Valentine and convincing him to apologize to Aviles.
Bobby Valentine's brief tenure with the Red Sox has been marked by controversy. (AP Photo)
Valentine and Aviles tell a very different story, however.
“That happened? Not that I know of,” Aviles told The Boston Globe. “It was all news to me, I’ll tell you that much. I don’t know where that’s coming from. I don’t know anything about it.”
Said Valentine: “I just heard about it. It goes from the sublime to ridiculous, doesn’t it around here? Those New York writers. If we’re going to do a full disclosure, which we better do that, at the team party that I threw, I spilled a Coke on one of the player’s wives and I apologized.”
Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who recently stood up for third baseman Kevin Youkilis when Valentine was publicly critical of him, also told the newspaper that the incident never occurred. Valentine has come under plenty of fire early in his first season with the Red Sox because of the team’s disappointing start and his controversial comments.