The two exchanged smiles as Girardi settled down in Valentine's seat.
Just don't expect the lovefest to advance much further. When asked about the rivalry with the New York club, Valentine answered with a blunt response that should add intrigue to the matchup.
"I hate the Yankees," Valentine said. "I don't want to waste this valuable time talking about the Yankees. This is too valuable. I told Joe Girardi I used to love him, but now I hate him."
Shortly after sitting in Valentine's chair to meet with reporters, the Yankees manager noticed an open water bottle on the table. It gave Girardi an opportunity to toss a playful zinger of his own back to Valentine.
"I don't want Bobby's water, I don't know what he did to it," Girardi said.
Throughout his 19-minute session, Girardi compared and contrasted the different managerial styles between Valentine and former Red Sox manager –– and current ESPN analyst –– Terry Francona.
"Bobby is probably going to be a little bit different type of manager than Terry was," Girardi said. "Every manager is going to have a different philosophy than the last guy. A lot of your moves as a manager are dependent on what type of players that you have.
"If you have guys who hit the ball out of the ballpark and are slow to first base, you are not going to become a base-stealing team. Time will tell how he is going to manage that club and it's our job to pay attention."
