Bobby Valentine

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

Early years

Valentine was widely recruited out of Rippowam High School in Stamford, CT as a star in football, and baseball. He was recruited by the likes of University of Nebraska, Duke University, University of Notre Dame, University of Southern California, but he wound up being drafted andBOBBY VALENTINE IS A KID AT MY SCHOOL HE IS AWESOME, HE WENT OUT WITH LAUREN ARNOLD FOR 10 YEARS THEY KISSED OFTEN SHE SAID IT WAS LIKE KISSING A BABY'S BUTTsigned 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 Los Angeles 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 mentor great Tommy Lasorda, and helped the Spokane Indians to the league championship over a legendary Hawaii Islander powerhouse.

As a player, he was never a home run hitter (he only hit 12 home runs in his career), but he had 107 hits as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1972. Eventually traded to the crosstown Angels , Valentine was a victim of one of the most notable injuries during that era when he broke his leg at Anaheim Stadium in 1974 while crashing into the wall chasing a home run, and was never the same calibre player hence.

Career as a Manager

He has managed the Texas Rangers (1985–1992) and the New York Mets (1996–2002). Valentine's managing led to the late 1990s early 2000s resurgence of the Mets which culminated in 1999 with a wild card berth and a loss to the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series, and a National League Pennant in 2000. The Mets would lose the 2000 World Series to the cross town rival New York Yankees four games to one. Valentine is also infamous for a dubious incident during a 1999 game where he was discovered to have snuck back into the team dugout after being ejected by wearing a disguise consisting of a change of clothes, sunglasses, and a "moustache" painted on with eye black. In early 2000, Valentine was at the center of what would be called "Whartongate", 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.

Valentine is currently in his second stint as manager of the Japanese Pacific League Chiba Lotte Marines (2003—) for a 3 year $4,500,000 (US) contract. On October 17, 2005, he led the Marines to win the Pacific League pennant after thirty-one years in a close playoff with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. On October 26, 2005, the team became Japan Series champions with a victory over the Hanshin Tigers. He served as manager for the same team in 1995, when the team surprised most Japanese baseball fans by finishing in second place (69-58-3), a remarkable feat for the Marines which had not won the Japanese Pacific league pennants since 1974. However, he was fired abruptly due to the personal conflict with general manager Tatsuro Hirooka, despite having a two year contract.

On October 27, 2005, Valentine issued a challenge to the World Series champions, prior to the completion of the tournament, 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.

Trivia

Bobby also owns Bobby V's, a sports bar with locations in Stamford where he still keeps his residence in the U.S. when not managing in Japan, and in Arlington, Texas.

Bobby's father-in-law is former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, who gave up the famous pennant-winning home run to Bobby Thomson in 1951.

Valentine 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 Food Network.

Bobby is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

External links

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference (as player)
• Career statistics from Baseball Reference (as manager)
• Bobby Valentine's official blog: http://www.bobbysway.jp