When he was 35 years old, Bobby Valentine became the youngest baseball manager in the U.S. Major Leagues, taking the helm of the Texas Rangers. Last year, at 00, he became the first Major League manager ever to take a managerial position at a Japanese ball club--the perennial Pacific League cellar-dwellers, the Lotte Chiba Marines. The team plunged to its usual place at the bottom of the standings at the start of the season. After two months, it was still in fifth place and the front office was getting nervous. But Valentine stubbornly stuck to his guns, maintaining the schedules and the rules he had set.

The team started climbing. By the end of the season, despite severe bickering between the front office and the foreign manager, the Marines had soared to second place. They had won more games than they had lost for the first time in 10 years and they had pulled in more fans than any time in recent memory. And then Valentine was fired.

The tabloids have been full of acrimonious claims and counterclaims from the Lotte management and Valentine. But Kyosen Ohashi, former TV personality, sports connoisseur and jazz critic, has only one comment. "They're crazy. He got those fans coming to the stadium, and that's where baseball earns its keep."

It's easy to understand Valentine's appeal. He is engaging, open and good with fans. He signs autographs. He raises his cap to the stands. He smiles, and the world lights up.

Give us a thumbnail history of Bobby Valentine in baseball.

High school player signed as number one draft choice by the Dodgers. Played two and a half years in the minor leagues. Hot-shot minor league player, MVP . . . Rookie of the Year.

What were your numbers?

Youngest guy in triple A and I hit .340 to lead the league. Led in seven other offensive categories. Went to spring training the next year in a leg cast because I played football and got clipped at the end of January. Came back in 1972, had many run-ins with the manager, got traded in '73. Led the American League in hitting in 1973 with the California Angels. Ran into the wall and broke my leg in two places.

Same one as the football injury?

Same leg, different injury. After that, my career was kind of downhill as a player. I learned to play a lot of different positions. Rode the bench. Part-time player, back and forth between the majors and the minors. Became a roving instructor with the Padres and the Mets, and third base coach with the Mets.

So you have a lot of years as a coach?

Oh, yeah. I was a minor league coach; then a major league coach for three years with the Mets. Then manager for eight years with the Texas Rangers. Then Triple A coach with the Reds, Triple A manager with the Mets and lastly as manager of the Lotte Chiba Marines.

How did you prepare to manage the Marines?

Fortunately for me I had two people during spring training in Arizona--Jimmy Ojiri, the interpreter and Daigo, my head coach--who had Pacific League experience, who knew the players on the other teams, their abilities, names and stuff. I was learning my team, my 70 guys, by name, number and ability, and I was also trying to learn the Pacific League from afar. Unfortunately, by the third game of the season, those two had been removed from sight: Jimmy was gone as interpreter and Daigo was gone from the dugout. They said he drank too much, but the real reason was because fielding coach Shozo Eto wanted to be the guy in charge.

How did you react?

I was on my own. [General Manager Tatsuro] Hirooka told me that all I had to do was read the Japanese book with all the names and statistics and everything on every player in the Pacific League. The problem was I couldn't read Japanese. He said that since I was studying real hard I should have been able to.

Did you talk to anyone with experience about baseball over here? The Lee brothers? Charlie Manuel? Anyone?

I talked to Bob Horner. Charlie. The Lees. I talked to a lot of people. Read all the books. You Gotta Have Wa. The Chrysanthemum and the Bat . . . the whole bit. I wanted to have an open mind too. I wanted to make my own decisions, so I think I was very prepared for most situations. I wasn't prepared for learning a new league by myself. The Japanese coaches have to learn three gaijin a year and it takes them half a year to learn what their abilities are. I had to learn 28 guys on five different teams as well as 70 guys on mine.

How did you do it?

Slowly. I had videos. I had statistics. But it's still seeing the real thing that counts. What a guy was one year doesn't always mean that's what he will be next year. Many players, very good players, weren't as good last year as they were before. And vice versa. So you have to learn them as you see them.

Did Hirooka or the front office put any limits on your authority when you were hired?

They told me my authority was ultimate. That I had total control.

How long did that last?

Until the third day of the season. They had told me that I could move the rosters, but then I sent Nishioka to the farm team, and he was Hirooka's favorite. They also had said I could fire coaches if they ever disobeyed me, and that was a false promise too.

What specific changes did you decide to make in the team?

We had to be a better defensive team. So the first day of spring training I got away from all this "individual" batting practice and "individual" fielding practice and worked on team batting and team fielding. Which was probably the key to our team by the time the season ended. It took a long time for them to realize the concepts of team play, team defense, team offense. But they did, and they put it to work. We needed a shortstop, and Koichi Hori filled the spot, though he was late due to a car accident. We needed a lead-off hitter and Kenji Morozumi filled that spot. He was late too, because his father died and he left Arizona to go to the funeral. As punishment he wasn't allowed to join the team until the middle of May.

What was the difference between the Marines at the beginning of the season and the team that beat Orix four straight games at the end?

We built character. It wasn't an easy thing to do with this team. And for sure it didn't happen in spring training. We had to go through our ups and downs; we had to learn about ourselves; we had to find out if we were good. We had a measles epidemic in May, where seven of our star players were out four and five days at a time, yet we got stronger because of those things. We got to be a good team, and once we got strong and healthy, then we could play. We could play with anyone.

Let's talk about individuals. Was Hori, the shortstop, your most improved player?

Without a doubt the most improved. Maybe the best.

Kiyoshi Hatsushiba did very well.

Hatsushiba was great. And he played a big leadership role also. Hori was the guy with the big hits, the big stolen bases, the big defensive plays. He was second in the league in hitting and made no errors in the last 38 games, when the games mean the most. I don't know how you could better that.

If you could pick some Japanese players to take back with you to the Major Leagues . . .

From my team I'd take Hatsushiba, I'd take Hori, I'd take Kawamoto, Narimoto, Irabu, Komiyama, Morozumi, maybe even Jozumi. I could take young players like Kuroki and Nomura. It would be wonderful to have them in the big leagues.

And from other teams?

Plenty of them. Plenty. Obviously, the first choice would be Ichiro.

What do you think of him?

I think he's the best offensive player in the world.

Did Hideki Irabu, your speedballer, improve because of American coaching? Are American coaches better with fastballers?

Almost every player on the team, with the exception of Tokitaka Minamibuchi, had a better season than they had the year before. Irabu is a fastball pitcher, with a good breaking ball and a split. And the key to his success, in my opinion, is that his pitches were limited. His workload was monitored. He didn't throw as much in between starts as he had in the past. He finished the season throwing 97-miles-an-hour and winning the ERA title. And the reason his control was better is because his arm was fresher. Simple. Fresher because of Tachibana's training . . . and my handling. Not that it's my thing, but I did make the decisions about when to take him out of the game.

What is the difference between American and Japanese coaches?

American coaches put an emphasis on individual instruction. Japanese coaches put an emphasis on individual work.

The number of hours practiced?

Yeah. I've seen guys take 150 ground balls and never have one word of instruction said to them. I've seen guys take 20 minutes of batting practice and never have a word said to them. I don't think that's necessarily great coaching.

Let's take a specific example of coaching differences. Hirooka keeps bringing up the success of Minamibuchi as a prime example of why you're wrong--why players must practice every day.

I think that's a great example. Minamibuchi worked as hard as they wanted him to work. And his statistics went down from the year before. Hori worked the way I wanted him to work and he had the best season of his career, maybe the best season of anyone on our team. He was the one that did not work extra. He's the one that Coach Eto said "practices less than anyone on the team." And all he did was finish second in the league in hitting. He didn't play any games at shortstop in spring training, and yet he was the all-star shortstop. You figure it out. Doing it their way, Minamibuchi had a worse season than last year. And doing it my way, Hori had one of the best seasons in the league.

Right now there seems to be a spate of "Bobby Bashing" going on. Did you keep up with the press as manager?

Yeah, as best I could. Remember that my best translator was taken away from me.

So you weren't provided with translations or daily reports?

No. Not unless I specifically asked for them.

Let's go over some of the many accusations being made against you in the press. On the front page of Sankei Sports, the headline says you have asked for an "extra-legal" Y320 million for a two year contract.

That would be great. If it was legal, I'd like to get it. That would mean I'd be making almost as much money as Hirooka. You know, he gave me a verbal contract for three years, then cut it to two years in writing. And that two-year contract is for far less than half of what that number you mentioned is--if I were to get all the dollars that were mentioned in the contract. I did ask for a review of my contract. I asked them what they were going to do--honor Hirooka's three-year contract that he gave me verbally or honor the two-year contract that's in writing. And they never responded.

You had a meeting on October 1, with Hirooka and some others. Did you get any signals then that it was all over?

Sure. That's why I asked which contract they would honor. I said, hey, if you're going to make a decision, make the decision and let me know. But I told them I thought we should be opening champagne instead of Pandora's box. Hirooka said that he wanted to talk to three coaches and if those three coaches said they could work with me next year, then I could come back. So I said, "I thought you were hired to make those decisions." I don't think it's the coaches' job to hire or fire me.

Here are some more comments from Hirooka. He says that the Marines came in second in spite of you. That they could have come in first.

That's a tough one to comment on. I just don't want to discredit the team. I think they played their hearts out, they gave every ounce. I don't know--there might have been two or three other games that we could have won. There were 15 games we could have won with a good pinch hitter early in the season.

Hirooka also says the Lions stole all your signs, and that's how they beat your Marines.

Well, the fact of the matter is that we beat the Lions more than they beat us. We beat them more at the end of the season than we did at the beginning. The fact of the matter is, we had their signs. That is the truth that the scouts could tell you. Especially Uchida, who did it, and videoed it, and gave them to us. So that's one of those things that would make the players laugh if they read about it.

There have been other comments in the press about how you started winning when Akira Ejiri, who will take your place as manager, was hired to help coach the Marines.

Well, the day Ejiri got there we had won six of the last seven games, so I don't know how you could say that we started winning when he got there. Ejiri was a big help. He was a bridge between me and my third base coach Eto. And I needed that. I couldn't stand it any longer. He was a big help and he is a very good guy.

Did you have problems with Eto because he is older than you? Seniority is important, you know.

Maybe. Maybe it was because he has never managed. It seemed like he had a chip on his shoulder.

Takagi, the assistant general manager, said, "[Valentine] was fired because he was judged deficient in baseball ability. He seems to be saying that we came in second because of him, but it was everybody's effort."

I don't think there's been one word, ever, out of my mouth that said this team did what they did because of me. It was because of this team. Because of the coaches, as I said at the end of the year, and because of the general manager. And because of the fans. The main emphasis in the success of this team is because the players were very strong--strong willed and strong hearted.

How would you rate baseball skills, Japan vs. the U.S.?

Pitching in Japan is better. Base running is better in the States. Fielding is more spectacular in the States, more steady in Japan. Except pitchers' fielding and catchers' blocking balls--that's better in Japan. Hitting is better in the States. Power is better in the States. Attitude is better here. Teamwork is better on a good team in the States; better on average in Japan.

U.S. teams use players from half a dozen countries, many of whom don't speak English well, like Nomo, yet they still function. Why are there so many bicultural problems here?

I didn't see it as a problem.

You're saying you didn't have a problem?

No. I had a problem communicating, but it was up, not down, so I didn't think I had a problem.

Is there anything Japanese teams could do to bring baseball up to Major League standards?

Yes. They could allow their players to build strength instead of always working to break strength down. They need to communicate, associate and develop relationships with the fans much better. They are at the brink of the same disaster the States has already experienced.

You had something going with the Lotte fans. It seems that 15,000 of them signed a petition that you be retained.

24,000. It's the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me in my life. Some of those fans stood on street corners and collected signatures. Amazing. No doubt about it. The fans were an important part of our success.

You've also been full of praise for your conditioning coach, Ryuji Tachibana. Did you hire him?

Hirooka hired him after Kintetsu fired him. He had done some understudy work with my Texas Rangers, so I knew him a little.

What effect did he have on the team?

He made the team. He kept us healthy all year. My usage of players and his prehabilitation of players--by that I mean the prevention of injuries--kept our team free of leg injuries, kept our pitchers pitching all year long. It's the first team I've managed that had no leg pulls. Other teams . . . guys are out two weeks, three weeks at a time because of leg injuries. Tachibana's the best there is. Even though the powers that be don't appreciate him.

Really?

Yeah, they didn't think he was working the players hard enough.

What did your experience in Japan teach you?

I learned some things about practice habits that I'll take back to the States. Or to my next team in Japan. I also learned about a foreign country that's not the hostile place that I was led to believe it was. It's a very warm and friendly country. People will take you into their homes. You can have great friendships with people whose language you don't speak. And I learned that a lot of people can do very orderly things in small areas. I now have a greater appreciation for space.

What advice do you have for the next foreign manager?

Get comfortable with the language before you get here. I spent two hours a day, every day, trying to memorize five verbs a day or whatever and it took a lot out of me. Frustrated the heck out of me because of my lack of progress. So either get a tutor, like I asked for, so you don't have to go knocking on doors asking favors, or learn the language before you get here. Get a working vocabulary. Learning 150 players is a very difficult thing, and you need to get as big a jump on it as you can.

Which Japanese team do you think is the best managed?

I don't want to answer that.

What changes would you have made next season, if any?

One of the reasons for the contention between me and the management is the list of seven suggestions I thought should be done next year. Jimmy, my interpreter, should have been retained. Franco should have been retained. Takagi, the little guy, should not have anything to do with teaching--get him off the field. A straighter line of communication should be established from the coaches to Hirooka and from Hirooka to the coaches through me. Regular meetings should be set up between me and Hirooka. And we should take full advantage of the Hawaii winter league and send our young players there to develop rather than stay here and rot.

The word used for a gaijin player in Japan is suketto, which means helper. But it also has the connotation of mercenary, someone you call in for reinforcement and send them packing when the enemy is beaten. Were you a suketto at the Marines?

I have no idea. Smarter people than me would have to figure that out. I was here to do a job. I thought I did it. . . . Fuck . . . What did I get myself into?