6:02 p.m.: Funny moment as Karl Ravech asks Valentine about leaving ESPN for the job.
He says that he's motivated by trying to "do something special" in taking the new job.
6:00 p.m.: Valentine is incredibly enthuisastic about getting to know his players and really, be accepted by him. He wants to "work with them and for them," he says.
With all due respect to New York, I can't imagine there's any tougher place to be good at what i'm gonna try to do than here," he says.
He also said that he's going to do what he can to replicate the "wonderful" things that Terry Francona did during his tenure in Boston.
5:58 p.m.: "I've had a lot of adjectives about me, and I can't describe them all and I won't try to.
"I have some qualities to my character that are OK. I'm not the genius that people have referred to me as. I'm not the monster that breathes fire that other people have referred to me as. "
That's good news. He doesn't breathe fire.
5:56 p.m.: Valentine is also excited to be in Boston where the emphasis on stats and sabermetrics is so crucial.
"I tried to continue to the concept through New York and Japan, but one of the more exciting parts about that is that i know the information is available to me."
5:54 p.m.: Valentine, who has been criticized in the past for sometimes being stubborn and perhaps not listening to those around him, is making it abundantly clear that he's going to take the input of those around him in this process.
He makes mention that that's one of the many things he learned from his previous jobs.
5:51 p.m.: For what it's worth, Valentine didn't rule out bringing Bill Buckner (a longtime friend of Valentine) aboard for his coaching staff. Of course, he was very mum about what his staff will look like, only offering that he will do all he can alongside Cherington to find the right fits.
5:50 p.m.: Valentine has made it clear throughout the process that he would love to have this job, and he's sticking with that now.
Valentine says that he's going to exhaust his resources to find out as much information as he can before he gets going.
5:48 p.m.: "I don't have the 10 commandments of baseball," Valentine says.
If he did, that would surely be a good start.
Joking aside, he says he certainly plans on reaching out to talk with his players and will likely travel to visit with some of them before spring training gets under way.
5:47 p.m.: "I would hopefully have learned from mistakes [in the past]," Valentine said when asked about the tumultuous end to his tenure with the Mets and with GM Steve Philips.
5:45 p.m.: Cherington says he spoke with Valentine for a couple of hours in their first meeting which came in the first week of November before he formally interviewed with the rest of the baseball ops department.
5:43 p.m.: "It's just not true," Cherington says of the rumors that the pick of Valentine was not his.
He says that it was a collaborative process between himself and the ownership group.
Cherington also said that he made his recommendation earlier this week that Valentine get the job.
5:41 p.m.: Valentine says he's looking forward to speaking with the players after being asked about his on-air criticisms of some players when he was working for ESPN.
Valentine even makes mention of specific critiques — Carl Crawford's stance and Josh Beckett's time between pitchers — without mentioning them by name.
"I have no idea," Valentine says when talking about Daniel Bard's role in the future.
5:39 p.m.: Valentine seems pretty eager to separate himself from the late-season collapse in 2011. Not much surprise there. He's ready to move on from that by the sounds of it.
5:37 p.m.: "The talent level, the players that we have in this organization is a gift to anyone. I'm a receiver of that gift," Valentine says before becoming somewhat emotional.
Valentine was on the verge of tears as he wrapped up his opening remarks.
5:36 p.m.: "I'm honored, I'm humbled and I'm pretty damn excited," Valentine says.
"I understand. I understand how difficult this was for the organization because of the outstanding candidates. I understand the rich tradition of baseball in this city … I understand the rivalries this team has. I understand the great talent that has been assembled."
5:34 p.m.: "I really look forward to working with him," Cherington says before congratulating the new skipper and presenting him with his Red Sox jersey.
5:32 p.m.: Cherington thanks all of the other candidates and their teams for their time, but insists that they have found the right man in Valentine.
He also says that Valentine's passion for the game and will to win played a large part in realizing Valentine was the right person for the jump.
5:31 p.m.: Valentine takes the podium alongside general manager Ben Cherington (and only him). We're about to get under way.
5:20 p.m.: We're just moments away from Bobby Valentine's grand introduction to Red Sox Nation as the new manager.
It will certainly be interesting to see what types of things the assembled media presses him about, especially in the wake of this past season's collapse.
Regardless, it figures to be a highly entertaining news conference.
8 a.m.: There's a new era in Red Sox baseball, and that era will be officially ushered in on Thursday afternoon at Fenway Park.
Bobby Valentine is set to become the 45th manager in the history of the organization. Valentine will meet with the media at 5:30 p.m. where he will be introduced as the new manager.
It's Valentine's third stop of his managerial career after spending time in Texas and New York, but it is his first time managing in the majors since 2002.
Be sure to check back for updates throughout his introductory news conference.
