Bobby Valentine Net Worth

What is Bobby Valentine's Net Worth and Salary?

Bobby Valentine is an American former professional baseball player, manager, and coach who has a net worth of $8. Bobby Valentine played for five different MLB teams between 1969 and 1979, and later served as a coach and manager for various teams between 1983 and 2012. Since his retirement, Valentine has served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of his hometown of Stamford, Connecticut.

Salary & Career Earnings

During his 2021 divorce proceedings, after more than 40 years of marriage to Mary Branca, filings revealed that Bobby earned "more than $20 million between 2004 and 2009" when he was coaching in Japan. Prior to coaching in Japan, he earned between $2-3 million during his years coaching the Mets, and roughly the same when he coached the Red Sox.

Early Life and Education

Bobby Valentine was born on May 13, 1950 in Stamford, Connecticut to Grace and Joseph. He attended Rippowam High School, where he was a star athlete in baseball, football, and track. Valentine set a number of state records in football and led his school to an undefeated season and a state championship in 1965. Outside of school, he was also a champion ballroom dancer. For his higher education, Valentine went to the University of Southern California.

Professional Playing Career

While still attending USC, Valentine was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1968 MLB draft. He began his career in the minors with the Ogden Dodgers of the Rookie Pioneer League, and won the league's MVP award after batting .281 and stealing 20 bases. Valentine was promoted to the Class AAA Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League in 1969. After the PCL season ended, he was called up to MLB and made his debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Valentine returned to the Spokane Indians in 1970, and batted .340 with 14 home runs to become the MVP of the Pacific Coast League. He went on to play his first full season with the Dodgers in 1971, hitting .249 with one home run and 25 RBI. In 1972, he batted .274. Valentine was subsequently traded to the California Angels, for which he became a regular starter. However, following an impressive start to the 1973 season, he suffered a serious leg injury in a game at Anaheim Stadium and had to miss most of the season. Valentine was in fine form upon his return in 1974, batting .261 with three homers.

Valentine returned to the minors at the start of the 1975 season, playing for the Charleston Charlies for 56 games until he was called back up to the Angels in June. He was then assigned to the Salt Lake City Bees, with which he played 46 games before returning again to the Angels. In September, Valentine was traded to the San Diego Padres, and in his first game with the team he scored a home run. He went on to spend the majority of the 1976 season with the Padres' AAA affiliate the Hawaii Islanders, batting .304 with 13 home runs. In mid-1977, Valentine was involved in the infamous "Midnight Massacre" trade that saw him sent to the New York Mets. He played with the Mets for the remainder of the 1977 season, and subsequently for the 1978 season, before he was released during spring training in 1979. Valentine subsequently signed with the Seattle Mariners, and played one season with the team before he retired from playing.

(Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Managerial Career

After serving on the coaching staff of the New York Mets for a few years, Valentine was chosen to become the new manager of the Texas Rangers several games into the 1985 season. In his first full season as manager in 1986, he led the Rangers to a second-place finish in the AL West. That would be the peak of his tenure with the team, as the Rangers struggled over the ensuing seasons and Valentine was ultimately fired midway through the 1992 season. In 1993, he served on the coaching staff of the Cincinnati Reds, and in 1994 he managed the minor league Norfolk Tides. The following year, Valentine became the manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pacific League. However, he was fired abruptly due to a dispute with general manager Tatsuro Hirooka. Valentine subsequently returned to the Norfolk Tides in 1996, and after the end of their season, became manager of the New York Mets. He went on to oversee a resurgence for the Mets over the next four seasons, leading the team to the playoffs in 1999 and 2000. In the latter year, the Mets won the NL pennant before losing to the New York Yankees in the World Series. Valentine remained with the Mets until he was fired at the end of the 2002 season.

In 2004, Valentine returned to the Chiba Lotte Marines. The next year, he led the team to its first Japanese Pacific League pennant in over 30 years, followed by a four-game sweep of the Hanshin Tigers in the Japan Series. Valentine kept the streak going as he led the Marines to victory in the inaugural Asia Series. He continued managing the team until he was fired after the 2009 season amid a smear campaign by club president Ryuzo Setoyama. Following some time working as a baseball analyst for ESPN, Valentine returned to managing in late 2011 when he was named the new manager of the Boston Red Sox. However, he managed the team for just one season, in 2012, as his tenure was sullied by player injuries, public feuds, front-office sabotage, and tensions with his coaches. After the Red Sox finished the 2012 season with their worst record in 47 years, Valentine was fired.

Matthew Stockman /Allsport

Other Endeavors

In 2003, Valentine made his first major appearance on ESPN, serving as an analyst on the network's "Baseball Tonight" program. He returned to ESPN as an analyst in 2009, and remained on the network through 2011. In the latter year, Valentine did color commentary on "Sunday Night Baseball." In 2013, he worked for CBSSports.com as a spokesperson for its Fantasy Sports campaign, and also that year, became the athletic director at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. During his tenure at Sacred Heart, which lasted until mid-2021, Valentine helped increase the national visibility of the school's athletics programs and oversaw various renovations and developments, including the construction of the three-story, 57,400-square-foot Bobby Valentine Health and Recreation Center.

Beyond sports, Valentine owns and operates Bobby V's Restaurant & Sports Bar in Stamford, Connecticut. He also co-founded the production company Makuhari Media, which produces sports-themed documentaries. In 2011, Valentine was named the director of public safety for the city of Stamford, and in 2021 he unsuccessfully ran for mayor. Valentine lost the mayoral election to Caroline Simmons, who became the first female mayor of Stamford.

Personal Life

Valentine was previously married to Mary Branca, the daughter of legendary Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca. They married in 1977 and share one son. During their marriage, he became romantically involved with Junko Ogino. That relationship kickstarted divorce proceedings in 2021

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