Rangers History Today: Valentine Takes Over
On this date in Texas Rangers history, Bobby Valentine began his tenure as Texas Rangers manager.
Valentine’s managerial career began on May 16, 1985, as he was hired by general manager Tom Grieve to replace Doug Rader. At the time, Valentine was a coach for the New York Mets and he became the game’s youngest manager at that time.
Valentine eventually became the longest-tenured manager to that point in Rangers history, guiding the team until he was fired halfway through the 1992 season. While he didn’t lead the Rangers to a division title, he presided over the Rangers’ first run of consistent success. He had four winning seasons, including three straight from 1989-91, and was fired with a 45-41 record in 1992.
Valentine’s career record in Texas was 581-605.
He went on to manage the New York Mets from 1996-2002, leading the Mets to the 2000 World Series and winning 536 games. He finished his managerial career with Boston in 2012, going just 69-93.
He spent several years managing in Japan, where he led the Chiba Lotte Marines to a Japan Series championship in 2005.
As a player, Valentine was drafted fifth overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1968, reached the Majors in 1969 and hit .260 in 10 MLB seasons with five different teams. Valentine had a 10-year playing career, but never lived up to the billing of a first-round pick, which the Los Angeles Dodgers made him in 1969.
He played with the Dodgers, the California Angels, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, and Seattle Mariners, where he hit .260 in 638 Major League games.
Also on this date …
May 16, 2003: Hank Blalock became the fifth player in Major League history, and the first player in American League history, to hit two 2-run doubles in the same game.
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