Valentine Says He’s Happy With the Rangers

SAN DIEGO —  Tommy Lasorda had no more patience with his favorite big league manager. He had used it all up. He was annoyed with him and he was showing it.

“You don’t appreciate anything I do for you,” he chided Bobby Valentine, the Texas Rangers’ first-year pilot. “I brought the linguine and clams all the way from home and now you won’t even come to my room to get it.”

“What am I gonna do, eat cold linguine?” Valentine answered, making a face.

“Why not?,” Lasorda wanted to know. “It’s just as good when it’s cold. I eat it that way a lot.”

Valentine did a little quick reconsidering.

“I like it cold, too,” he said, suddenly remembering.

“So what are you waiting for? C’mon, let’s go and get it in my room,” Lasorda urged him.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Valentine tried to mollify him. The dark-haired, 35-year-old Ranger manager looks as if he could still be playing ball. He might still be had he not torn up his left leg playing outfield for the Angels fairly early in his career.

Lasorda considers Valentine his adopted son. The two go back to 1968 long before Lasorda was named manager of the Dodgers. Lasorda was learning the ropes as a minor-league manager with Ogden, Utah, and Valentine was just starting his career as a player under him.

Until he took over the Rangers at the end of last May, Valentine was working for the Mets, and there wasn’t a better third base coach in the business. He was happy doing what he was doing and when he got the call asking him if he was interested in taking over the bogged down Rangers, who had won only nine of their first 33 games under Doug Rader, naturally, he was flattered and excited.

The first call he made was to his “Goombah,” Tom Lasorda. What did he have to say about the move? Was it a good one or not?

“Pick the fruit while it’s ripe,” Lasorda told him.

Valentine did. He left the Mets for the Texas managerial job and did a good one with what he had, but the Rangers still wound up in the American League West basement 28 1/2 games back with 62 victories and 99 losses.

“Tommy gave me the right advice about taking the Texas job,” said Valentine, completely at home even though these are his first winter baseball meetings as a manager, anyway. He went to the meetings a few years ago when he was a roving instructor for the Padres.

“Tommy told me the right thing when he advised me to take the Rangers job,” Valentine says. “I love it. I learned the job is as enjoyable as you want to make it. We lost 99 games, which is a lot, and I know it sounds strange, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Managing the club, I mean. Finishing last is something that no one relishes. I don’t wanna ever do it again. I think we got into a hole early and didn’t have enough pitching to dig us out.”

To give you some idea of what Valentine is talking about, the Rangers’ pitching staff posted a 4.56 earned run average. Only the Mariners and Indians finished with worse figures in the American League.

Valentine enjoys working with Ranger general manager Tom Grieve and since Valentine became manager, the Rangers have dealt Buddy Bell, Frank Tanana, Cliff Johnson, Wayne Tolleson and Dave Schmidt.

So far, the Rangers haven’t made any deals at these meetings, but Grieve and Valentine think they will further down the line. Basically, what the Rangers wish to do is go with youth.

“I think we’re going to upgrade some of our positions, get a little younger talent,” Valentine said.

“One of our outfielders, Oddibe McDowell, is going to be a real special player. He’s only 22 and he started off poorly for us last season, but he can hit the ball out of the park, he’s a good defensive player and he can steal a base.”

McDowell hit only .239 in 111 games during his rookie season with the Rangers, but he hit 18 homers and stole 25 bases.