Ex-MLB manager Bobby Valentine announces run for mayor of Stamford, CT
Bobby Valentine is attempting to become the latest coach to make the jump from sports to politics.
The former manager of the Texas Rangers, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox announced Friday that he will run for mayor in his hometown of Stamford, Connecticut.
"It's been great to see Stamford grow the way it has grown over the years. I want to lead us into that new world that Stamford will be in the future," Valentine says in the video, which also features endorsements from several local residents.
"The greatest commodity I have is my time, and I want to give my time and my energy and my wherewithal back to the city that has given me so much over my lifetime. We're in it together."
Bobby Valentine vs. actual politicians
Valentine, who played 10 MLB seasons as a utility man, is well-known for his lengthy career as an MLB manager, which peaked with a trip to the World Series with the Mets in 2000. His most recent run with the Red Sox ended less successfully, lasting only one season that featured organizational infighting, media feuds and bizarre tactical decisions. He also had two stints managing the NPB's Chiba Lotte Marines, winning the Japan Series in 2005.
Valentine's most memorable moment: returning from an ejection in disguise:
Since his unceremonious Red Sox exit, Valentine has worked as the athletic director of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. He has some additional business experience, operating a restaurant in downtown Stamford since 1980 and owning a sports academy in the Springdale area, per WFAN.
Valentine is a former registered Republican but will run as an independent, per the Stamford Advocate. He joins a mayoral race that was already looking crowded, with two-term Democratic incumbent David Martin and four-term Democratic state representative Caroline Simmons in the field. No Republican candidate has yet emerged, per the Advocate.
Martin additionally holds 27 years of experience as a state representative with degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, while Simmons is a Harvard graduate and former staffer on the Obama transition team and Department of Homeland Security. It will be up to Valentine to show he can overcome those qualifications.
More from Yahoo Sports:
