Spats with coaches: Reports all season suggested Valentine and some of his Red Sox coaches didn’t see eye-to-eye. Pitching coach Bob McClure, as well as bullpen coach Gary Tuck and bench coach Tim Bogar, were hired before Valentine. Valentine even brought in his own assistant pitching coach, Randy Niemann, who was with him in New York. McClure, who missed three weeks to deal with a family emergency, was fired on Aug. 20. This followed a cheap shot from Valentine on WEEI's Big Show on Aug. 1: "Bob McClure was on his two-week vacation—I'm sorry, not vacation, his two weeks away from the team."