Mariners Interested in Valentine

- Although Valentine is popular in Japan, managing the Mariners would provide him with the opportunity to coach Ichiro [...]

I think you hit the main point right there, Valentine is popular in Japan, and it would be suicide for Chiba Lotte to lose Bobby V. Plus, Seattle's ownership, while owned by Nintendo, is run day to day more so by Howard Lincoln, a former Nintendo executive, since the transfer of power by Hiroshi Yamauchi.

If Hargrove gets fired, the Mariners already have a manager ready to take over in Dan Rohn, the Triple-A Tacoma manager from last year, who's basically been hanging out in the front office all year waiting for such an opportunity.

They're not going after Bobby, and I can't imagine there's any way Bobby leaves Japan in the near future unless he gets fired, which I also can't imagine unless Lotte actually does poorly (as opposed to mediocrely).

In a nutshell, Bobby cannot replace the kind of situation he has in Japan. The acclaim, the power, and the "Japan makes me a better man" cannot be replicated at home.

Most of us know better.

Yeah, Dan Rohn has been consistent in managing the the Rainers over the last couple years and would make a suitable choice for the new manager. At the same time many people would like to see the return Piniella.

As to Bobby V. making the jump back, I can't imagine that it would happen, yet alone seeing one of his players like Agbayani making the jump to MLB again.

It seems though that a lot of Lotte fans feel that Bobby will either choose to skip pond or simply not have his contract extended at the end of this season. Likewise, the Mariners fans do indeed want Piniella back. They've been wanting to see him since the day he departed. Furthermore, I don't think that Japan is responding to Bobby as much as they were last year which has caused his popularity to wain during the past season. The fans really didn't like his post-season "I might go back to America" publicity stunt, and I can't blame them. If he really wants to stay in Japan, he needs to light a fire under his team's collective bootay and start winning games that he should be winning.

Or so me thinks.

- ... [Valentine's] popularity to wain during the past season. The fans really didn't like his post-season "I might go back to America" publicity stunt, and I can't blame them. If he really wants to stay in Japan, he needs to light a fire under his team's collective bootay and start winning games that he should be winning.

Are you really so sure about that? And can you back that up with any true facts? Valentine said his first priority was staying with Chiba last year. So, you're "I might go back to America" publicity stunt is flawed and beginning to get old. Same old thing we heard last year. And answer me one question, where is Bobby managing this year? When all of you doubters were so certain he was going to be managing a major league team? Chiba Lotte.

I guess NPB fans are not so different from MLB fans. It is very much "what have you done for me lately?" When you are winning, you can do no wrong. When you are losing you are the goat. Or, perhaps people in Japan are starting to get Bobby fatigue like many of us did in New York.

Well, personally, I haven't taken any polls recently and I don't think that it's on Gallup's to-do list. So if you're looking for numbers, I just can't give them to you. But I can definitely say that the sentiment amongst the fans in the outfield is overwhelmingly that he is not performing to the fans' expectations and that he just doesn't have the "it" that he came with last year.

Second of all, what people say and what people really feel are often two different things. I think those of us who live or have lived in Japan can back me up on that. Perhaps he was trying to keep good relations. Who knows? Maybe he will be here next year, but I still say that his whole going back to America thing last year was a sham to get attention. Why? I don't know. He had just won the championship and had all the popularity he needed, maybe he wanted more people to come out to the Konami Cup and used that to generate more interest. The "Hey, I just won a championship and, oh look at the timing, I better get going now," and the "No Bobby! Please don't go!" just seemed way too opportune.

Perhaps, as a fan, hopefully I'm wrong. But the truth is that a lot of people's attention span is starting to wane.

His comments last year about going home were ill-timed and, I think, in bad taste. But hey, that's Bobby. He was self-promoting, negotiating publicly, and as a result, got a nice big pay increase. It's always about Bobby.

His attention span also waned after 9/11, when he lost a dear friend. After that, he lost the fire and didn't care. I can understand that. But if the same is happening now in Japan, it very well may be time to cut him loose. If that happens, he'll be behind the desk, in front of the camera, not in the dugout when he returns home.

Well, it'd take him one step closer to the Marines-Mariners-Marlins "Mar*in**s" trifecta. I wonder if any player has played for these three teams already.

Good point! I've often corrected people on these three teams, but I've never had that question. Anyone care to do some research (I'm designating the college gakis here)?

I racked my brain, and the best I could come up with was Darrell Whitmore, the outfielder who had that one amazing catch with the Marlins and had one uneventful year with the Marines. Too bad he didn't play for the Mariners.

Ironically, the nickname "Mariners" was considered by Lotte as a possible name for the team when they were moving from Kawasaki to Chiba in 1992. They ended up choosing Marines instead, and also ended up with those god-awful pink uniforms.

Speaking of pink uniforms, does anyone know anything about the whereabouts of vintage (style) Pa-League uniforms in Japan? I recently saw a bunch of old Lotte Orions hats and "god-awful" pink and black CLM hats at an Eagles game in Sendai of all places. I've searched web auctions and websites and have come up with pud. Any help with this?

P.S. Cheers for the brain racking Kenny.

I'd seen vintage Orions uniforms at the goods shop at Chiba Marine Stadium. Other teams probably have similar goods at their stadium shops. Incentive to go to the ball park?

The M's today fired Dan Rohn, whom most fans believed would be Seattle's manager next year. [MLB Press Release]

Speaking of the Lotte Orions unis, does anyone remember Mike Diaz from around 1990? He used to compete in an American arm wrestling competition during the off-season against other ballplayers in major league organizations. Everyone wore their uniforms, so Diaz naturally wore the Lotte uni on North American cable TV!

Rohn is unlikely going to manage the Mariners in 2007 after being let go today.

I would be very surprised to see Bobby V. going back to the U.S. After his ill-advised hold-out last fall, didn't he sign something like a $4 million 3 year deal, this being the first of the three years? And if I remember correctly, he was rumored to be the top candidate for the LA Dodgers' job, but there was just no way they were going to pay him the $4 million that he is earning here in Japan.

Next, some may argue, he has lost his popularity over here. Well I disagree. Living in Tokyo, I see his face all over the TV screens and in other print advertisements. In fact, he is the poster boy for a large bank (Shinsei). The best, though, is some dancing commercial I see him in right now on the cable stations. He is doing some kind of waltz dance with a bunch of Japanese girls. He sure looks funny in the commercial, but must be making a ton of money off of all of these assignments.

In short, he is making a lot of money here and is treated like a king. He wouldn't get that treatment nor make that kind of money back in the U.S. As much as Seattle needs a quality manager, I don't think Bobby V. is their man. Seattle should look at John McLaron (long time bench coach, former Seattle bench coach).

Rumor in Chicago is that once they fire Dusty Baker for the horrible year the Cubs have had they will be chasing Bobby V. I think the above poster is correct in that Bobby V. is wrapped up in a multi-year contract at, by Japanese standards, an unbelievable salary. But the Cubs could buy him out of his contract easily. They are a big money team in the U.S.

- But the Cubs could buy him out of his contract easily. They are a big money team in the U.S.

That's not the main point. The main point is Valentine is a living-legend in Japan, and in the North Side of Chicago would have nowhere near the level of fanfare he has now in Japan.

Maybe, you should listen to the latest reports, Valentine has said that once again has no interest in leaving the Marines [Japan Baseball Daily].

Brook-san, please. Can we tone down the nasty voice?

In the end Wrigley could trade stocks of gum to Lotte for Valentine. Maybe offer Lotte a new flavor.

I don't think it's a nasty voice. I think a lot of us get sick of hearing the same rumors (with the same misconceptions, and not just about Bobby V.) over and over again, and it's just exasperation at it.

I think the original sentiment of "Most of us know better," expressed at the top of this thread, is appropriate.

And at the very top of this thread is the subject, which is the "Rumor Mill." Enter at your own risk as, after all, rumors are most often wrong. You may want to start a "Fact Mill" thread, but that does not have the same ring to it as "Rumor Mill."

Great idea! I vote that we change the name of the "News" forum to "Fact Mill." Good idea Zman! Love it!