DALLAS — The likes of Joe Torre, Joe Girardi and Terry Francona have confessed to getting worn out by the intensity and frequency of the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry. Perhaps in time, Bobby Valentine will join that list.

At the moment, however – without having experienced a single rivalry game in uniform – the Red Sox’s new manager is embracing the excitement.

Asked Wednesday to discuss the rivalry, Valentine smiled wide and responded: “No. I hate the Yankees. I don’t want to waste this valuable time talking about the Yankees. This is too valuable.”

Once the laughter subsided, Valentine added, “I told (Yankees Manager) Joe Girardi I used to love them but now I hate them.”

Said Girardi of his new adversary: “Bobby is going to be probably a little bit different type of manager than Terry was, because 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 you have. If you’ve got a bunch of guys that hit the ball out of the ballpark and are slow to first base, you’re not going to become a base-stealing team.”