Bobby Valentine

Bobby Valentine

dablink|This article is about the baseball player/manager. For the R&B
singer, see Bobby Valentino.
Infobox MLB retired
name=Bobby Valentine


caption=
position=Outfielder / Manager
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1950|5|13
Stamford, Connecticut
debutdate=September 2
debutyear=by|1969
debutteam=Los Angeles Dodgers
finaldate=September 30
finalyear=by|1979
finalteam=Seattle Mariners
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.260
stat2label=Hits
stat2value=441
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=157
teams= As Player
* Los Angeles Dodgers (by|1969, by|1971-by|1972)
* California Angels (by|1973-by|1975)
* San Diego Padres (by|1975-by|1977)
* New York Mets (by|1977-by|1978)
* Seattle Mariners (by|1979)As Manager
* Texas Rangers (by|1985-by|1992)
* Chiba Lotte Marines (by|1995)
* New York Mets (by|1996-by|2002)
* Chiba Lotte Marines (by|2004-present)
highlights=
* 2002 Branch Rickey Award

Robert John Valentine (born May 13 1950 in Stamford, Connecticut), nicknamed Bobby V, 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 by|1969 to by|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 by|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 caliber player after that.

Career as a manager

He has managed the Texas Rangers (by|1985–by|1992) and the New York Mets (by|1996–by|2002). Valentine's managing led to the late 1990s and early 2000s resurgence of the Mets, which culminated in by|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 by|2000. The Mets lost the 2000 World Series to the crosstown rival New York Yankees, four games to one. Valentine is also infamous for a dubious incident during a by|1999 game 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 "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. [ [http://www.citypaper.net/articles/042000/sl.howcol.shtml The Whartongate Affair ] ]

Valentine is currently in his second stint as manager of the Japanese Pacific League Chiba Lotte Marines (by|2003—) for a 3-year $4,500,000 (US) contract. On October 17, by|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, the team became Japan Series champions with a victory over the Hanshin Tigers, as well as the first Asia Series champions over Samsung Lions in finals. He served as manager for the same team in by|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 by|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, by|2005, Valentine issued a challenge to the World Series champion Chicago White Sox, 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.

Outside his baseball career

Outside of his coaching job, Valentine also owns Bobby V's, a decades-old sports bar with locations in Stamford, where he still keeps his residence when not managing in Japan or in Arlington, Texas. 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.Fact|date=April 2007 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. [Advertisement "Sixth Annual Bobby Valentine Celebrity Wine & Food Experience", Weekend section, "The Advocate" of Stamford, Connecticut, page 8, December 6 2007]

Valentine's father-in-law is former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, who gave up the famous pennant-winning home run to Bobby Thomson in by|1951.Fact|date=April 2007

Valentine is a member of the Delta Chi fraternity.

Notes

External links

*Bobby Valentine's official blog: http://www.bobbysway.jp
*baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=v/valenbo02 |fangraphs=1013324 |cube=V/bobby-valentine
*baseball-reference manager|id=/valenbo02


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bobby Valentine — Bobby Valentine …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Valentine — may refer to: *A card or gift given on Valentine s Day *A person who gives or receives such an itemPlacesUnited States*Valentine, Indiana *Valentine, Nebraska *Valentine, Texas Australia*Valentine, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake… …   Wikipedia

  • Bobby Valentino (album) — Bobby Valentine Studio album by Bobby Valentino Released April 26, 2005 ( …   Wikipedia

  • Bobby (given name) — Infobox Given Name Revised name = Bobby imagesize= caption= pronunciation= gender = meaning = region = origin = related names = footnotes = Bobby is a diminutive of the Christian names Robert (♂) and Roberta (♀) (also spelling Bobbie )People (in… …   Wikipedia

  • Bobby Bonilla — Infobox MLB retired name=Bobby Bonilla position=Third baseman / Outfielder bats=Both throws=Right birthdate=birth date and age|1963|2|23 Bronx, New York debutdate=April 9 debutyear=by|1986 debutteam=Chicago White Sox finaldate=October 7 finalyear …   Wikipedia

  • Bobby "The Brain" Heenan — Bobby Heenan Pour les articles homonymes, voir Heenan. Bobby Heenan est un acteur américain né le 1er novembre 1944 à Beverly Hills, Californie (États Unis). Filmographie 1960 : AWA All Star Wrestling (série TV) : Bobby The Brain… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bobby Whitlock — (born 18 March 1948 in Memphis, Tennessee) is a session musician, best known for being a member of Derek and the Dominos. Biography Raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Whitlock began playing piano at many sessions at the legendary Stax Studios by the… …   Wikipedia

  • Bobby Darling — is a popular Indian actor who acted in Hindi and Tamil films. His original name is Pankaj Sharma. He himself as well as the contemporary Indian media call him as a gay man, who dresses more or less like a woman; however, his repeated claims that… …   Wikipedia

  • Bobby Burgess — (born May 19, 1941 in Long Beach, California) is an American dancer and singer.Growing up in Southern California, Burgess first started performing at age five, which included dancing, singing and playing the accordion. In 1955 he was selected as… …   Wikipedia

  • Bobby Lashley — Franklin Roberto Lashley Bobby Lashley en 2006. Nom(s) de ring Bobby Lashley Taille 1,91 m[1] …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”