Bobby Valentine is in his hometown of Samford, Connecticut for the moment and did what would appear to be a lengthy interview with the Connecticut Post. There are a few tidbits and, of course, some good quotes.
Valentine himself points out that he might really be at the end of his tenure in Japan. Unlucky sevens for Asia.
“I spent seven years in Texas as manager of the Rangers. I spent seven years in New York as manager of the Mets,” Valentine said. “And if you count both of my stints there, 2009 will be my seventh season managing in Japan.”
He also goes on to talk about the WBC and it’s potential to open the door to a true international baseball championship, which he believes should include the champions of each league.
Valentine also ads some complimentary words about Japan and his experience there. I could easily say these same kinds of things.
“It has been a great life experience. I lived in Japan as a minority, which is quite a different perspective on life,” Valentine said. “I feel good about myself. I learned a new language. I learned a lot about baseball. I learned a lot about patience. I learned a lot about cultural diversity and people’s motivations.
“I’m glad that I was young enough when I went there to experience it,” Valentine continued. “It is so challenging. It is such a demanding baseball culture. Japan was a place where there was room for baseball growth. A place where I got to see the fruits of my labors. Japan is full of 30,000-capacity baseball stadiums. My first year we drew 400,000 fans. Now attendance is up to 1.7 million and my Japanese players come out and sign autographs before games. I was truly part of some positive change.”
Well, I wouldn’t have much business saying that last part. Westbay-san could. Valentine certainly can. It’ll be unfortunate if he really does leave.
Read the rest here.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Patrick // Jan 5, 2009 at 10:50 am
Trey Hillman keyed a similar turnaround with Nippon Ham, and Hiroshima is starting to see some improvements under Marty Brown.
Neither of those guys is the showman Bobby is though.
2 Shinsano // Jan 5, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Without a doubt Bobby knows how to “work it.” And I don’t mean that in a negative way at all. The article also lists an academy he started as well as a charity organization…when I visit home I struggle just to see family and friends. And usually I don’t manage to do that. Valentine is seemingly everywhere at once. Althoug his wife might argue with that point.
It’s a little early, because we don’t know if Bobby V. will actually leave Japan, but has there been a foreigner with a greater impact on the Japanese game?
3 Westbaystars // Jan 6, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I don’t know if I’ve put anywhere near as many people in the seats that Bobby has, but I’m a believer in Valentine-kantoku. He really lives by the motto at the bottom of his blog, “Commit to your passions - Passionately pursue your commitments.”
He’s seemed a little tied up in a knot on his blog lately, but meeting him, you can’t help but feel his passion for the game. And the people he’s had a direct hand in hiring share that passion. That has been the secret to his success in Chiba.
However, that passion is also part of his downfall, I think. Valentine-kantoku wants to keep pushing, keep improving. And his passion drives him a little faster than those whom he needs to get one board (like Setoyama-president). Since Bobby’s going full speed trying to implement new things, others (often just trying to do their jobs without much passion) get left behind. When those others get frustrated because they don’t understand Bobby (and it’s more than just a language barrier), the others tend to want to hem him in. The results of such don’t tend to be positive (i.e. Bobby gets fired - even if it’s called not getting his contract renewed after this year).
Here’s an experiment anyone can try. Ask an 8 year old boy who is a native speaker of the same language you are about Pocket Monsters or some other popular anime (that you aren’t that familiar with). The more passionate the child is about the topic, the less you’re likely to understand. When old men in suits talk to Bobby about baseball, all they hear is an 8 year old boy passionately talking about Pocket Monsters - unless they have that same level of passion. And there aren’t very many people in this world who do. (Makes one wonder about all of those passionate New Yorkers who hate Bobby. Perhaps it’s not really baseball that they’re passionate about?)
Has Bobby become more patient over the past several years? I think so. But more is a relative word. Many people see his pushing the extension of the minor league system in Japan to consume the new independent leagues as going too fast - not showing patience. His comments about already having a perfectly good third baseman so there’s no need to go shopping in Korea for one was made before he had talked with Setoyama-president.
I read a quote recently about barriers being nothing more than unclear goals. It strikes me that Bobby is the type of person with very clear goals as he doesn’t tend to let barriers like people telling him that he can’t do something stand in his way. Again, while such determination to attain one’s goals (Musashi-ism - see “A Book of Five Rings”) is often seen as a positive (like passion), there are many who feel that how one goes about attaining those goals are also important. In Japan, going about it on one’s own isn’t seen as virtuous as it is in Western cultures. One must first get everyone in the organization (especially Setoyama-president) to reach a consensus about how to proceed before pursuing those goals.
I’m sure that Valentine-kantoku has picked up on this cultural point of the Japanese, but I don’t think that, despite his great progress, he has yet attained the level of patience necessary to give in to this barrier. And that is probably the root of his downfall.
Did I say “downfall”? What am I talking about? Bobby is going to lead the Marines to the Pacific League Pennant, then sweep the Central League in the Nippon Series, and keep the Asia Cup in Japan in November before leaving as a national hero. One friend of mine has predicted that Setoyama will then be fired 11 months after Valentine-kantoku has left.
My Dad recently told me that he was glad that Bobby was able to return to Japan. In 1996 he met Bobby, then with the Tidewater Tides, and clearly remembers Bobby saying that he hoped a team in Japan would call before the Mets did. (That didn’t happen.) For all the rumors that we’ve had to suffer year after year about Bobby really wanting a job with an MLB team, I can’t help but think that in his heart, he’d rather stay in Japan - and preferably in Chiba.
4 Patrick // Jan 7, 2009 at 4:26 am
A funny thing is that before Bobby went back to Japan, for me he was the guy that wore a fake mustache and glasses after being kicked out of a game.
He’s done pretty much everything right in Japan and I have a ton of respect for him now.
5 jwb // Jan 7, 2009 at 7:15 am
“Has there been a foreigner with a greater impact on the Japanese game?”
Lefty O’Doul?
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