Sports
Bobby V is bicoastal
A year ago, he was running for mayor in The City That Works; now he is a studio analyst for the baseball team that plays near Disney Land
Bobby Valentine Caroline Simmons Bill Murray
Tommy Lasorda Peter Golenbock Perry Minasian
By Scott Benjamin
Find out what's happening in Brookfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Bob Costas once said of Yogi Berra: “They say ‘Dumb Yogi.’ He is married to an attractive woman; he’s made a bundle of money off of television commercials and he has a museum named after him.”
The skeptics might say that former Major League Baseball player and manager Bobby Valentine lost by about 1,500 votes in the 2021 mayoral election in Stamford because of ill-advised comments on renters and toward Caroline Simmons, his Democratic opponent.
Find out what's happening in Brookfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
However, it is not as though his only claim to fame is that he captured the Mets 1978 bubble gum blowing contest.
His candid autobiography - “Valentine’s Way’ ” - written with former Stamford and Wilton resident Peter Golenbock - was released last November and has received good reviews.
In the Buffalo Sport Page, Budd Bailey wrote,” ‘Valentine’s Way’ isn’t going to change many minds about the life and times of Bobby V. If you think of him as an innovative, interesting person, this will back you up. If he’s a little too full of himself for your tastes, there’s supporting evidence there too. Just don’t call him or his book boring, because there’s plenty here to keep you entertained.”
Since April Valentine’s regular job is as the pre- and post-game analyst for the California Angels games over Bally Spots West.
Which means he is commenting on the team that he played for as his career was starting to blossom in 1973 when through the first month of the season, he was among the American League leaders in batting average. He was hitting .302 on the night of May 17 when he suffered a gruesome injury when his lower right leg got tangled in the outfield wall and supporting poles as he jumped to try to catch a ball hit by the Oakland A’s Dick Green. He was in casts for the next six months and went from being a budding superstar to a journeyman player.
He bought a Tesla last winter and wanted “to test the super charging set-up across America.” Along the way he spoke with his best friend, Zack Minasian, whom he has known since he arrived in Ogden, Utah to start his minor league career 54 years ago in the Dodgers organization.
Perry Minasian, one of Zack’s four sons and the general manager for the Angels, was looking for a studio analyst for their telecasts.
Remarked Valentine, “Being a studio analyst is different than what I did for ESPN, when it was three hours” in the booth analyzing the games. He also appeared in the studio on Baseball Tonight.
“This is more like what I did occasionally for SNY in the studio on the pre-game and post-game,” he said.
During the 2011 season Valentine was the game analyst at ESPN on the premier Sunday Night game. Perhaps his career since then would have taken a different trajectory if he had not signed in December 2011 to manage the Red Sox, a stint that ended the following October.
Valentine is currently not only living near Hollywood, but he has a production – “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” - that will premiere September 13 at the Toronto Film Festival, will be in theaters the following week and on Apple TV shortly later. The marquee cast features Zac Efron, Russell Crowe and Bill Murray.
Andrew Muscato, the president of his Stamford-based film company, produced it.
His sports academy in the Springdale section Stamford “is going strong” and since 2019 there has been an athletic complex bearing his name at Sacred Heart University, where he served for eight years as the executive athletic director.
He said he still communicates with his former colleagues in the Pioneers’ athletic department and is following the progress of the university’s “new hockey arena,” a $70 million facility that is scheduled to open in January.
These days, when he has free time, he can catch a Dodgers game in a season when they may set a franchise record for victories. He was drafted by the Dodgers in the first round in 1968 and former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda was his skipper in the minor leagues and became a mentor. He still has a strong affinity for the team.
“Some of the teams, such as the Padres, think that the Dodgers are vulnerable, but they keep winning,” Valentine said in a phone interview with Patch.com.
Regarding the local clubs, Valentine said he is “very excited” about the Mets emerging as one of the premier teams in baseball. In fact, after getting the season started late following the lock-out, Valentine said he believes it will be a banner year for baseball since “the great franchises,” such as the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees appear primed to advance deep into the playoffs.
Valentine, who played for the Mets in the late 1970s and then managed them to the 2000 World Series, will be at Citi Field August 27 for Old Timers Day.
The Yankees, who less than two months ago were on a pace to break the franchise record of 114 victories, have been a sub-.500 team since the All-Star break.
“They’ve hit a bump in the road,” Valentine remarked. “They’re the class of the American League East. They’re fun to watch.”
The Red Sox looked like a potential Wild Card team in June, and now they’re in the American League East basement.
Said Valentine, “It seems to me that it might be one of those years when they wait to next year.”
What are his reflections on the mayoral election?
He underscored that as an independent candidate he raised about $750,000.
“Our campaign put the Democratic Party on notice,” Valentine exclaimed. “They had to get President Obama out to tip the scales [through his endorsement last October of Simmons].”
However, Republican former President George W. Bush, who was Valentine’s boss when he was manager of the Texas Rangers, made a $500 contribution to Valentine’s campaign.
The turnout at the polls was 40 percent, compared to just 27 percent in the 2017 municipal election.
“I thought it was really a wonderful experience,” Valentine commented. “I appreciate that so many people came out and were part of our [campaign] team.”
Resources:
https://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/pride-city-works
https://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/candid-talk-valentine-s-way
https://www.buffalosportspage.com/book-review-valentines-way/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Beer_Run_Ever
https://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/valentine-insists-stamford-needs-more-ownership-properties
