Bob Ryan says Bobby Valentine is a different breed from the type of men you see in positions of power -- in all sports -- today.
"He doesn't turn the other cheek; he's a street fighter," the Boston Globe columnist said on 'Sports Sunday' with Michael Felger, Dan Shaughnessy and Lou Merloni. "It's very unlike a typical modern sports coach or manager."
He kept that persona more or less under wraps during the first half of the season. But his frank comments about Kevin Youkilis before Sunday's game, and his criticisms of Cody Ross for a play during the game, could be an indication that we're finally seeing the Bobby Valentine we thought we were getting when the Red Sox hired him.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Shaughnessy thinks Valentine may have come to a decision over the All-Star break.
"He said to himself, if I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down with guns blazing," said Shaughnessy. "What do I care? I'm on a two-year contract, I'm 62 years old . . . I'm just going to be me."