On December 1, 2011—a few days after the Red Sox hired
Bobby Valentine to be their new manager—we offered readers a poll. Basically, we asked how long
Bobby V. would last in
Carmine Hose. As the chart shows, just over one-quarter of readers (26.3%) got it
exactly right ("one to two years"). In fact, Valentine lasted just
one tumultuous, disastrous year. Interestingly, the plurality (42.5%) was more optimistic ("between two and three years"). Somewhat amazingly, a combined total of about one-third (31.3%) thought he'd last more than three years!
