Bobby Valentine

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Robert John Valentine (born May 13, 1950 in Stamford, Connecticut) is a former player and manager in Major League Baseball and the current manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Pacific League.

Early years

Valentine was widely recruited out of Rippowam High School in Stamford, Connecticut as a star in American football and baseball. He was recruited by the likes of the University of Nebraska, Duke University, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Southern California. He attended USC where he became a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and Arizona State University. He was then drafted and signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1969. He is considered to be among the best high school athletes in Connecticut history.

Playing career

Valentine played from 1969 to 1979 with the Dodgers, California Angels, San Diego Padres, New York Mets and Seattle Mariners.

Valentine was the Pacific Coast League MVP in 1970, a team managed by future Dodger great Tommy Lasorda, and helped the Spokane Indians to the league championship over a legendary Hawaii Islanders powerhouse.

As a player, he was never a home run hitter (he only hit 12 home runs in his major league career), but he had 107 hits as a member of the Dodgers in 1972. After the 1972 season, Valentine was a key player in a major trade with crosstown Angels. Valentine immediately became an offensive star for the Angels, hitting over .350 in his first month as a starter. Valentine was the Angels' shortstop, but in May temporarily shifted to center field. However, on May 17, 1973, Valentine was a victim of one of the most gruesome injuries during that era when he suffered a multiple compound leg fracture at Anaheim Stadium when his spikes got caught in the outfield's chain link fence while attempting to catch a home run ball hit by Dick Green. Valentine missed the remainder of the 1973 season and the leg never healed properly, robbing Valentine of his speed. He was never the same caliber player after that.

Career as a manager

Bobby Valentine began his managerial career with the Texas Rangers in 1985, taking over for Doug Rader 32 games into the season. He was not able to turn the team's fortunes around right away and the Rangers went 53-76 the rest of the way, finishing with an overall record of 62-99. The following season the Rangers had a great year, finishing 2nd in the AL West with a record of 87-75. Valentine also finished second for AL Manager of the Year that year. Hopes were high in Arlington after the 1986 season, but Valentine was not able to replicate his success and he was fired halfway through the 1992 season.

In 1995, Valentine began his first stint as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines. That season, the team surprised most Japanese baseball fans by finishing in second place (69–58–3), a remarkable feat for the Marines who had not won the Japanese Pacific league pennant since 1974. However, he was fired abruptly due to the personal conflict with general manager Tatsuro Hirooka,^[1] despite having a two-year contract.

He returned to the U.S. and managed the Norfolk Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. Eventually he was promoted to manage the struggling New York Mets with 31 games left in the 1996 season. Over the next two seasons, with Valentine at the helm, the Mets began a resurgence, finishing 14 games over .500 (88-74) both years. During the 1999 season, Valentine led the Mets to a record of 97-66 and a wild card playoff berth. The Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in four games (3-1) en route to the National League Championship Series, where they eventually lost to their division rival the Atlanta Braves in six games (4-2). The Mets returned the following season, finishing the year with a 94-68 record and another wild card playoff berth. This time, the Mets would not be denied the pennant, winning the National League by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in five games (4-1). The jubilation for the Mets would end during the World Series as they were beaten handily by their crosstown rival the New York Yankees in five games (4-1). Valentine managed the Mets for two more years but was eventually fired after the 2002 season.

Valentine is infamous for a dubious incident during a game in 1999 in which he was discovered to have sneaked back into the team dugout after being ejected, by wearing a disguise consisting of a change of clothes, sunglasses, and a "mustache" painted on his upper lip with eye black. In early 2000, Valentine was at the center of what would be called "The Whartongate Affair," in which he allegedly mentioned to students at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business somewhat cynical, insider comments regarding a handful of Mets players and the organization as a whole.^[2]

In 2004, Valentine began his second stint as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Japanese Pacific League. On October 17, 2005, he led the Marines to the Pacific League pennant after thirty-one years in a close playoff with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Nine days later on October 26th, the Marines won the Japan Series in a four game sweep of the Hanshin Tigers for the first time since 1974. On October 27, 2005, Valentine issued a challenge to the World Series champion Chicago White Sox on behalf of the Chiba Lotte Marines. Valentine called for a seven-game World Series to be played between the American and Japanese championship teams. Unlike the World Baseball Classic, a competition featuring sixteen national all-star teams, a World Series-styled tournament between the winners of both the American and Japanese championships has never been played.

Following their Japan Series championship, the Marines won the inaugural Asia Series by defeating the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization in November 2005.

In 2008, Valentine was the subject of the ESPN Films documentary "The Zen of Bobby V." The film followed Valentine and his 2007 Chiba Lotte Marines team. "The Zen of Bobby V." was an official selection at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.

Outside his baseball career

Since 1980, Valentine has owned and operated Bobby Valentine's Sports Gallery Cafe, a sports bar located in his hometown of Stamford. He claims to have invented the Wrap sandwich. He claims that his restaurant was the first anywhere to serve a sandwich in a tortilla wrap. Valentine made this claim while his restaurant was showcased on the Food Network.^[3] Since 2003, Valentine has held an annual "Bobby Valentine Celebrity Wine & Food Experience", a charity fundraising event featuring food from lower Fairfield County, Connecticut restaurants and a selection of wines. Valentine acts as the master of ceremonies and celebrities and sports personalities appear at the event. The January 2008 event, to benefit the Mickey Lione Jr. Fund, included both live and silent auctions and cost $150 to attend, with ticket sales limited to 750.^[4]

Valentine is married to the daughter of former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, who gave up the famous "Shot Heard 'Round the World" home run to Bobby Thomson in 1951.^[5]

Valentine is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

References

External links

• Bobby Valentine's official blog: http://www.bobbysway.jp
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Major league career managerial statistics from Baseball-Reference
• How Bobby Valentine Invented the Wrap Sandwich
• Bobby Valentine's Holiday Wish