Bobby Valentine

Bobby Valentine is one of those rare guys who somehow became a bigger deal in a foreign country than he ever was back home, and I mean that as the highest compliment. Sure, he had a solid MLB career bouncing around teams like the Dodgers and the Mets in the 1970s, but his real legacy is what he built in Japan managing the Chiba Lotte Marines — twice — and turning a struggling franchise into genuine contenders. The man learned the culture, earned the respect of his players, and gave back so much to Japanese baseball that the Japanese government awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun, which is about as official as "you're one of us now" gets. A Connecticut kid who became a cultural bridge across the Pacific — that's a career worth celebrating.

Name (English)

Bobby Valentine

Name (Japanese)

ボビー・ヴァレンタイン

Reading

ぼびー・ゔぁれんたいん

Born

May 13, 1950 (age 76)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Tiger

Origin

Stamford, Connecticut, United States

Height

178 cm

Occupation

baseball player

High school

Rippowam High School

University

Arizona State University

Awards & achievements

• The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://www.bobbysway.jp
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/bobbyvinstamford/
• Xhttps://x.com/BobbyValentine
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9C%E3%83%93%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%90%E3%83%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BF%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3

Tags

• Connecticut
• baseball player

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.