FORMER METS AND RED SOX MANAGER TO BE GUEST SPEAKER AT DAWGS DINNER

The Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs, a team in the summer wooden bat Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, announced today that former Major League player and Manager Bobby Valentine will be the featured speaker at its Annual Hot Stove Dinner on Saturday, April 18, 2015 at the Travel Lodge (formally the Knights Inn) in Little Falls, New York.  Additionally, two new members of the Mohawk Valley Baseball Hall of Fame will be inducted.  The inductees will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Valentine, currently serving as the Athletic Director at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, began his Major League career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1969.  He spent three seasons with the Dodgers, then went on to play for the former California Angels (1973-1975), the San Diego Padres (1975-1976), the New York Mets (1977-1978) and the Seattle Mariners (1979).  In between his major league playing days, he spent time with teams in the International and Pacific Coast leagues.  During his ten-year career as a player, Valentine played eight of nine positions, batted .260 with 441 big league hits, 12 home runs and 157 runs driven in.  He also stole 27 bases and scored 176 runs.

Not well-remembered as a player, Valentine earned significant recognition as a manager.  At the young age of 35, Valentine was tapped to lead the American League’s Texas Rangers in 1985.  In a nearly seven-year stint as the team’s field general, Valentine amassed 581 wins and a second place finish in 1986.  After a four-year absence as a major league skipper, Valentine took over the National League New York Mets at the tail end of the 1996 season.  From the moment he was hired until his eventual departure after the 2002 season, Valentine became the face of New York’s senior circuit entry in the MLB.

In 6+ seasons, Valentine’s Mets went 536-467 for a .534 winning percentage.  His teams finished second in the National League East in 1998, 1999, and 2000.  In 1999 his Mets went 97-66 and his 2000 squad went 94-68 en route to an appearance in the World Series where they eventually lost to the cross-town rival New York Yankees.  The following year, 2001, Valentine was selected to be the National League All Star Manager.  Despite a lone season of struggles in Boston as the Red Sox manager in 2012, Valentine finished in the top 10 of the Manager of the Year voting in nearly half of his career.

The event’s doors will open on April 18th at 5:30 P.M. for cocktails, autographs and silent auction with dinner and program following. Tickets cost $35 for adults and $25 for kids 12 and under. For a table of 8 people, the cost is $250. To purchase a seat or table, please email Travis@mydiamonddawgs.com or contact team owner Travis Heiser at or call (315) 985-0692.

Stay tuned as we announce this years inductees by visiting our websitewww.mydiamonddawgs.com or by social media on Facebook and Twitter @MVDiamondDawgs.