Valentine responds to Ortiz's criticism: 2012 season 'went to hell'

Bobby Valentine wasted no time in responding to an excerpt released Thursday from David Ortiz's soon-to-be published book that bashes the former Boston Red Sox manager.

Ortiz was highly critical of Valentine's brief stint as the Red Sox skipper in 2012, when the club finished 24 games under .500 and dead last in the division. He said the drama began almost immediately in spring training, and he labeled Valentine "aggravating as hell, arrogant, and disrespectful."

Valentine, who was fired one day after the conclusion of that season, said he hardly takes anything away from his experience in Boston and doesn't remember the time fondly.

"It was six months of my life," Valentine told Tiki and Tierney of CBS Sports Radio. "It was 162 of 4,000 games that I was involved in. It wasn't a lot of my life. It was pretty good for about 105 games and then it all went to hell. I guess it wasn't pretty good at all, as David says it wasn't good after two days, but it was real tough duty. There was no type of systems that were necessarily in place. I felt like I was a little out on the island. I tried to do my best and that's all I ever do and it obviously wasn't good enough."

Ortiz recounted numerous issues with the manager, though one exchange in particular irked the 10-time All-Star. During spring training, Valentine reportedly berated Mike Aviles for calling "I got it" on a pop-up.

"If it had been me, I would have gone up to him, right in front of the fans, and dropped a punch," Ortiz said.

Valentine said he remembered the exchange, and that Aviles was at fault. He also believed it was his job to correct it.

"Maybe he (Ortiz) was upset that I was yelling at a player who wanted to do things his way," he said.

Valentine was a highly criticized choice when he took over for Terry Francona in November of 2011. The Red Sox finished with their worst record in 47 years, and he was fired on Oct. 4, 2012.