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Bobby Valentine Proud Of His Managerial Work In His One Season With Red Sox

BOSTON (CBS) -- Bobby Valentine inherited a 90-win Red Sox team and led them to a 69-93 record, the worst record for the franchise since 1965.

Bobby Valentine butted heads with longtime fan favorite Kevin Youkilis, leading to the infielder getting traded away from the team (after Valentine cheered him from the top step after his final at-bat with Boston).

Bobby Valentine was the man in charge of the most tumultuous and disastrous years in recent memory in Boston, and he was fired as soon as the season ended.

And Bobby Valentine is proud of the job he did.

The former Red Sox manager was formally introduced on Tuesday as the new athletic director for Sacred Heart University near his hometown of Stamford, Conn., and despite the embarrassing way the 2012 Red Sox season played out, Valentine did not appear to be feeling any shame.

"I thought I did a hell of a job in Boston," Valentine said of the 2012 Red Sox, according to the New York Daily News. "I thought what had to be done there was done, except for winning a pennant. But [Hall of Fame manager] Connie Mack wasn't going to win with that team."

Valentine expanded on his year in Boston.

"[It took] maybe one bike ride and I said, 'Oh, darn,'" Valentine said of getting over the pain of last season. "It's six months of a 62-year life. It's six months in a 42-year career in baseball. It's a blip, a little spot on the radar.

""Wasn't the first time I was fired and it probably won't be the last," he added. "It wasn't the biggest challenge of my life. It wasn't the most exciting challenge of my life. It was just one of those things."

Valentine has been the target of some pointed comments from Red Sox players this spring -- most notably David Ortiz -- but Valentine on Monday refused to address any words spoken by "stupid people."

Speaking to the Boston Herald's Steve Buckley, Valentine said, "I don't want to comment on stupid things that stupid people say."

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