Our Daily Bobby, 2011

[Guest Edgy DC]

Because some guys don't have interesting non-baseball lives, some guys do, and then there's Bobby.

Pavia names Bobby Valentine as Stamford public safety director Kate King, Staff Writer Published: 11:51 a.m., Thursday, January 13, 2011 STAMFORD -- Mayor Michael Pavia announced Thursday morning that he has appointed former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine to his cabinet as the city's director of public health and safety. Valentine, a lifelong Stamford resident, will begin immediately in his new role and will earn $10,000 annually, a salary that he said he plans to give back to the community. "I'm going to give this my best effort," Valentine said during a press conference with Pavia at Government Center Thursday. "The thought of trying to do good in a very public way is a very exciting challenge in my life." Pavia cited Valentine's management and leadership skills as a local business owner and international baseball manager as his reasons for selecting him to head Stamford's public safety department. He also pointed to Valentine's work over the past six months as chairman of the mayor's task force to reorganize the city's fire department as an indication that the job was a good fit. He knows the operation of fire service as well as anybody in Stamford, Pavia said. What that shows me is his commitment to what has to be done. Valentine said his main function as director of public health and safety will be to improve communication between the mayor and the city's police, fire, emergency medical services and health departments. "I'm going to be learning on a daily basis, all of the things that my job will entail," Valentine said. "(The departments) run, as I said, extremely well in the city and the mayor, I think, that I'm going to try to help coordinate the flow of information both ways, from him to them, and from the different services to the mayors office." Valentine said he plans to donate his $10,000 annual salary to community services in Stamford. He cited the Mickey Lione Jr. fund and Stamford's Citizen of the Year scholarship as entities he would be interested in supporting. "This is a non-salary position," Valentine said. "To receive is wonderful, to give is divine, I guess." Valentine said his full-time job as a baseball analyst for ESPN would not interfere with his ability to serve as Stamford's health and public safety director. He said his work for ESPN will mainly consume night and weekend hours, leaving the days free to oversee Stamford's health and safety departments. "I get up early, I go to bed late," he said. "There's plenty of hours in the day that I get to do the things that I need to do." In early December, ESPN announced that the former New York Mets manager would serve as an analyst for its Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts as part of a three-man booth that will include Dan Shulman and former pitcher Orel Hershiser. The job will take him to ballparks across the country during baseball season. Valentine is a longtime Stamford resident and prominent member of the community. His sports restaurant, Bobby Valentine's Sports Gallery Cafe, was an important component of the revitalization of downtown Stamford when it opened in Columbus Park in 1980. In 2007, Valentine launched the popular Bobby Valentines Sports Academy on Camp Avenue. Last Friday, Valentine was recognized as Stamford's Citizen of the Year in an early morning ceremony at Government Center. Valentine has been involved with city government since last winter, when Pavia tapped him to head a task force charged with advising the mayor on a restructuring of the city's fire departments. Tension has existed for years between the city's paid and volunteer departments, and Valentine was not immune to the drama. In September, he lashed out at the local professional firefighter's union during a meeting of the Board of Representatives Public Health and Safety Committee. "When I entered the room tonight, I had two union members treat me in a way that no one ever treats me," Valentine said at the end of the meeting. "I'm saying this publicly because the next time somebody says something, I might end up in front of a judge. The public safety director job is a cabinet-level position that typically pays between $118,000 and $138,000. Pavia eliminated funding for the job and appointed himself to the vacant position shortly after taking office a year ago as a cost-saving measure. The move saved the city $122,000, but changes in the city's health department freed up enough money to pay a public safety director's salary for the first six months of 2011, which is the second half of the fiscal year. The city had been searching for a new director for several months. The position's full salary will have to be added to next year's budget. The last public safety director appointment was a source of controversy in city government. Republican officials questioned former Mayor Dannel Malloy's decision to pay William Callion, whom he nominated for the position in September 2003, $11,000 more than his predecessor, Ben Barnes. Callion's starting salary was $96,000 a year. He served as director of public safety in Stamford through the rest of Malloy's time in office. In 2008, the Board of Finance approved an 11 percent pay hike for Callion, raising his annual salary to $119,244. Prior to his appointment to the mayoral cabinet, Callion had worked as a fire commissioner and served as chairman of the Board of Finance's Public Safety, Health and Welfare Committee. He also worked at IBM for 34 years. The city Charter requires Stamford to have a director of public safety, health and welfare, who is responsible for the supervision of police, fire, health, social services, paramedics and emergency management. Staff Writer Kate King can be reached at kate.king@scni.com or (203) 964-2263. Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/default/article/Pavia-names-Bobby-Valentine-as-Stamford-public-954664.php#ixzz1AwOzeulN

[Willets Point]

His first duty is to clean up the streets of Yankees fans.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The service aspect is great and all, but this...

He said his work for ESPN will mainly consume night and weekend hours, leaving the days free to oversee Stamford's health and safety departments.

... comes off as a little naive, and kind of trivializing toward those among us-- ahem-- who work in emergency-management-y fields.

[Ceetar]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: The service aspect is great and all, but this... He said his work for ESPN will mainly consume night and weekend hours, leaving the days free to oversee Stamford's health and safety departments. ... comes off as a little naive, and kind of trivializing toward those among us-- ahem-- who work in emergency-management-y fields.

He fails to mention sleeping as well.

But I imagine the job is more a political/desk job than anything else, not quite an emergency response sorta thing.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I imagine his role will be morale booster first and advisor second. Though "director" certainly implies he'd be in the chain of command, and I expect him to be out there getting his hands dirty, I would expect the mayor would sign off on any policy changes he thinks are necessary.

It may say "director," but I'm guessing "special advisor to the GM" is more accurate.

[G-Fafif]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: The service aspect is great and all, but this... He said his work for ESPN will mainly consume night and weekend hours, leaving the days free to oversee Stamford's health and safety departments. ... comes off as a little naive, and kind of trivializing toward those among us-- ahem-- who work in emergency-management-y fields.

Are you implying Bobby Valentine is less than superhuman?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Bobby, slinging whiskey for charity in Connecticut.

[Guest Edgy DC]

It's like the Terminator approach to good citizenship. He can't. Be. Stopped

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Meanwhile, Mustached Bobby was across town, drunkenly punching a nun.


Lovely avatar change to go with.

[G-Fafif]

The headline implies he was once a Met star and the copy refers to him as a baseball legend. Works for me.

Why doesn't Connecticut just make it official and rename itself Bobby V's?

[seawolf17]

I think my greatest baseball-related fear is Bobby Valentine associating himself with either the Yankees or the Phillies. He's a legend to me.

[metirish]

seawolf17 wrote: I think my greatest baseball-related fear is Bobby Valentine associating himself with either the Yankees or the Phillies. He's a legend to me.

Yep, Bobby at it since 3am is so him, to have half his energy.

[Guest themetfairy]

Every time I see this thread I think of this song from Chicago (except that I think We Want Bobby, and I think of the real version and not this edited one).

[Guest Edgy DC]

seawolf17 wrote: I think my greatest baseball-related fear is Bobby Valentine associating himself with either the Yankees or the Phillies. He's a legend to me.

Actually, I'm reading that Senator Lieberman has announced his intention to retire as the end of this Congress, and I'm thinking...

[Benjamin Grimm]

...that he might associate himself with the Senators!

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm thinking of starting a "Draft Bobby" page at Facebook?

Connecticut would get to go from a Loverman to a Valentine.

[Willets Point]

Edgy DC wrote: It's like the Terminator approach to good citizenship. He can't. Be. Stopped

Mini-celebrity? And only halfway through the report someone finally realizes that Valentine works for the city.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Bobby on Ricky and more:

[youtube:16r6tngr]H8D9pgQcVs4[/youtube:16r6tngr]

[seawolf17]

Okay, Murray. Now you've gone too far.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Whoah. Old guy flame war.

[G-Fafif]

Bobby Valentine: Prospective partial Mets owner.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Bobby Valentine: Prospective partial Mets owner.

OMG

[TransMonk]

Interesting, fo' sho'.

[Frayed Knot]

Talk about your hands-on ownership!!

[Willets Point]

He could easily be a silent partner by wearing glasses and a fake mustache.

[Guest Edgy DC]

It sadly doesn't look like much at this point.

[Guest Edgy DC]

If you want something done, ask a busy person.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Bobby Valentine confirmed as public safety director, announces he is starting production company Staff Reports Updated 01:27 p.m., Tuesday, March 8, 2011 A day after being confirmed by the Stamford Board of Representatives as the city's new director of public safety, health and welfare, Bobby Valentine announced that he has started a sports-themed film production company. Valentine -- the former manager of the New York Mets -- will partner with 25-year-old producer Andrew Moscato to form Makuhari Media, which will focus on sports-themed documentaries. Moscato produced the 2008 ESPN documentary "The Zen of Bobby V," which chronicled Valentine's time as a manager in Japanese baseball. "To have this opportunity to create sports documentaries by teaming with Andrew Muscato is one of the most exciting and fulfilling ventures of my lifetime," said Valentine in a statement. (Ed: by "lifetime," he means "week.") The company is already slated to begin work producing three documentary features. The first film is tentatively titled "Pelotero," and will follow two young baseball prospects from the Dominican Republic as they try to secure a dream of playing professional baseball. A second film features a chess tournament between the Princeton University Chess Club and prison inmates serving life sentences. The final in-production film is about the life of former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca. Monday night Valentine's move to replace Mayor Michael Pavia as the city's public safety director as approved by the full Board of Representatives in a vote of 30-0-7. Last week Valentine was unanimously approved for the position by the board's appointments committee. At that meeting, Valentine said that he will not be in the city on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, when he will be working for ESPN in Bristol as an analyst on "Baseball Tonight" or as co-host on "Sunday Night Baseball." Valentine, a hometown celebrity and business owner who led the Mets to a World Series berth in 2000, was named the city's public safety director in a surprise move by Pavia in January. The director oversees the fire, police and health departments in Stamford and is responsible for managing an $100 million budget during a tight upcoming budget cycle. Valentine took the cabinet-level position for a $10,000 annual salary, an amount he will donate to charity. After Pavia took office last year, he assumed the public safety director position in order to save the city $122,000, the position's salary, and avert two layoffs. The Valentine appointment caused concerns among some city lawmakers and police union officials over his lack of experience in budget management and public administration. Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Bobby-Valentine-confirmed-as-public-safety-1047558.php#ixzz1G4UKqqlC

[Guest Edgy DC]

Former Mets and Chiba Lotte manager Bobby Valentine is helping friends in Japan By The Associated Press (CP) � 2 hours ago NEW YORK, N.Y. � Bobby Valentine has been working on little sleep since Japan was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami last week, devoting much of his time to tracking down friends and former players and figuring out a way to help from thousands of miles away. "I'm feeling hopeless, helpless," Valentine told The Associated Press in a phone interview Thursday from his office in Stamford, Conn. "What I do have is a pretty good circle of friends who I reached out to. I think I'll be able to contribute." The ESPN baseball analyst was manager of the Chiba Lotte Mariners in 1995 and from 2004-09, leading them to a championship on 2005, and his ties to Japan are strong. Once Valentine began seeing images of the aftermath of the 9.0-magnitude quake that hit northern Japan last Friday, he began texting, emailing and calling for updates. Valentine has spoken to Chiba Lotte team executives, friends with the Rakuten Golden Eagles in the heavily hit city Sendai and employees at a school he helped found seven years ago. "The country is shaken, they're living in a very uncomfortable state," Valentine said. The one friend he hasn't been able to reach firsthand is Mets scout Esao O'Jimi, who was Valentine's first interpreter in Japan. Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said O'Jimi is OK. Seeing YouTube videos of water rushing through the streets where he rode his bicycle every day, of the rising tides flooding the ballpark where his Marines played their home games, he knew he had to act. So Valentine, the director of public health and safety for Stamford, began calling his friends in the financial industry and started reaching out to baseball people to set up a relief fund. He hopes to start a website where fans can buy memorabilia and make donations. He's going to meet with the Japan Society and with charities such as Save the Children and the Japanese Red Cross to find a partner that will act quickly. "I hope the charities of choice are ones that are recognized by many and can use the funds expediently," he said. He's even trying to convince the board of directors of the Mickey Leone Fund, a local charity he is involved with, to donate the funds raised from a June 18 gala to the relief effort in Japan. It's not the first time Valentine has raced to help out in a disaster. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Valentine, then the manager of the New York Mets, stepped to the forefront, helping organize the staging area in the Shea Stadium parking lot for the relief effort. Then he could get his hands dirty, getting involved that way. Far away from Chiba, which he says was built on the landfill of World War II and could be in jeopardy because of all the flooding, he's taking a different approach. "I feel just as helpless as I did then," Valentine said, "and I hope I can do something."

[Centerfield]

Bobby Valentine is awesome.