Bobby Valentine To Manage Nippon Ham?
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Re: Bobby Valentine To Manage Nippon Ham?
[ Author: Guest: null | Posted: Jul 25, 2002 6:30 PM
]
That's interesting about Valentine's name being brought up for the Fighters' job. I seriously doubt it will happen and I seriously doubt that Valentine will ever manage in Japan after what happened to him the first time.
People have to remember that Valentine was desperate to manage again in the big leagues when he first came to Japan in 1995 since most major league teams stayed away from him after his firing by the Rangers. The reason for that was because Valentine had developed a bad reputation around MLB circles as a young tyrant who couldn't get along with anybody.
Now that he has established himself in MLB again he'll be able to find work as a manager with another team even if the Mets fire him after the season so don't count on him to come back to Japan to manage again.
People have to remember that Valentine was desperate to manage again in the big leagues when he first came to Japan in 1995 since most major league teams stayed away from him after his firing by the Rangers. The reason for that was because Valentine had developed a bad reputation around MLB circles as a young tyrant who couldn't get along with anybody.
Now that he has established himself in MLB again he'll be able to find work as a manager with another team even if the Mets fire him after the season so don't count on him to come back to Japan to manage again.
Re: Bobby Valentine To Manage Nippon Ham?
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Jul 25, 2002 7:13 PM
| YBS Fan
]
I would like to add that Nikkan Sports didn't mention Bobby by name. But reading the articles (yesterday and today), that was the first person to come to mind. Because Ohya's name has been in both articles I've read, I'd say that he's got the biggest chance at this point.
The article today had a representative from Nippon Ham saying that the rumors of "Ohya-san or a foreign manager did not come from the board of directors. It's still too early for such discussion. We're just working on our goal to get into A-class (the top half of the standings)." [Usual disclaimers about my loose translation policy apply.]
While the press will most likely spew out names from now until October, don't expect an official announcement until the season ends.
The article today had a representative from Nippon Ham saying that the rumors of "Ohya-san or a foreign manager did not come from the board of directors. It's still too early for such discussion. We're just working on our goal to get into A-class (the top half of the standings)." [Usual disclaimers about my loose translation policy apply.]
While the press will most likely spew out names from now until October, don't expect an official announcement until the season ends.
Re: Bobby Valentine To Manage Nippon Ham?
[ Author: Guest: BrianH | Posted: Jul 27, 2002 1:17 PM
]
Who knows? I guess it depends on if the Mets make the playoffs. Currently they are 4 games out of the NL wild card spot. Some of the overpriced free agents the Mets signed over the offseason are starting to wake up.
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However, they are also looking at the possibility of having someone from MLB come in, partly as more marketing pizzazz when the club moves from Tokyo to Sapporo starting with the 2004 season. One name that has to come up is Valentine, who took a terrible Chiba Lotte Marines club with two decent pitchers (at least at the time---Irabu and Komiyama) and almost won a pennant with them. Valentine still goes back to Japan several times a year to do lectures and baseball clinics. Moreover, he has name value and is widely respected there for what he did with Lotte, so if Nippon Ham is serious about hiring a foreigner to run the club, he would have to be at the top of the list, providing he is available after this season is over (and considering how the Mets have performed this year, he may be).