Norwalk Resident Knows The Real Bobby Valentine

From Texas to Tokyo, there are thousands of people who think they know Bobby Valentine. They may have shaken his hand, played a round of golf with him, or just saw him manage or analyze baseball on ESPN. But not many people really know the new manager of the Boston Red Sox. Mike Abate of Norwalk does. For the last five years, Abate has worked for Valentine at his sports academy, soaking up the Stamford icon's knowledge and seeing first hand, his passion for the game.

"It's been a great, great learning experience me for," said Abate, director of staff development at Bobby Valentine's Sports Academy in Stamford. "He does a lot for the community and he's fun to be around. When Bobby's here, he gets in the cage and gets down and dirty. He's tossing balls and teaching the kids. It's incredible what he does."

Abate shares Valentine's passion for the game and like his mentor, left his mark on baseball diamonds around Fairfield County. Abate, 33, was a two-time All-State selection as an outfielder for the Norwalk Bears and in 1998, won the Rawlings National Junior College Player of the Year award for Norwalk Community College. He was drafted twice and played three years in the Seattle Mariners organization. Abate connected instantly with Valentine and even got a chance to see how he managed and became a legend in Japan.

"I was going through some tough times to be honest with you," said Abate, who also played quarterback at Southern Connecticut State University. "He was like, 'why don't you come over to Japan and see the culture and the baseball.' I got to spend everyday in the stadium with him and soak up all his knowledge. And he's a God over there."

Back in the states, Valentine is considered one of the smartest men in the game. But what exactly makes the former New York Mets and Texas Rangers manager so astute when it comes to baseball.

"He has the ability to see things before they happen," said Abate. "It's like he has a slo-motion camera in his head that sees things before everyone else. Bobby can look at a kid take two swings and know what he's doing wrong and correct it. And he's the smartest manager I've ever been around and I've been around a lot of them."

There are some people in baseball who don't share Abate's feelings for Valentine. Bobby V has been called everything from arrogant to abrasive and a few not so nice other things in between. Abate is loyal to Valentine and after dealing with him for the last five years, he knows what Valentine is really like when the cameras are off and the microphones are not in his face. He thinks Valentine will succeed in Boston and be able to adjust to a league he hasn't managed in for the last nine years.

"He's constantly learning, even for a guy who's been in the game for as long as he has," said Abate. "Bobby is the type of person who is always looking to better himself. He's always studying the swing or the art of something. He constantly makes adjustments and I think he will in Boston."