Up on the blog
today, we give Bobby Valentine a “dedicated” 1971 rookie card, as I just
now realize the image I used was ALSO used on his 1972 Topps card:
Things being what
they are, too late to swap it out now since I can’t find another usable
image, so here you go for the time being.
The highly touted
Valentine was drafted as the fifth overall pick in the first round of
the 1969 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and made his MLB debut as a
pinch runner at the age of 19 during that very
season, scoring five runs without an official at-bat.
After spending all
of 1970 in the Minors, he was back in the Big Leagues in 1971, hitting
.249 over 101 games and 281 at-bats, collecting 70 hits with 32 runs
scored and 25 runs batted in.
In 1972 he made the
team, and went on to hit .274 while playing multiple positions,
cementing himself as a versatile player off the bench, appearing in 119
games.
However, in November
of that year he was part of a package that brought the Dodgers starting
pitcher Andy Messersmith, a blockbuster of a deal that also saw L.A.
send Bill Singer and Frank Robinson to Anaheim
for the young ace.
Sadly, as Valentine started the 1973 season strong for the Angels, hitting .302 by May 17th, he suffered a brutal multiple compound fracture in a game against the Oakland A’s after his spikes got
caught in the outfield’s chail link fence while trying to rob Dick Green of a home run.
That injury never healed properly and Valentine was lost the rest of the season, while also never regaining his speed.
He would spend the
next seven years as a part-time player, moving on to the San Diego
Padres in 1975, New York Mets in 1977 and finally the Seattle Mariners
for one last season in 1979.
Over his 10-year
career he finished with a .260 average, with 441 hits in 1698 at-bats
over 639 games, scoring 176 runs and driving in 157.
Of course, after his
playing career he became a Major League manager, putting in 16 seasons
leading the Texas Rangers (1985-1992), New York Mets (1996-2002) and the
Boston Red Sox (2012), winning a pennant
in 2000 while with the Mets, losing to the New York Yankees in the
“Subway Series”.
His final MLB managerial record: 581-605.
