Skip to main content Currently Reading Ex-NY Mets manager Bobby Valentine runs for Stamford mayor: 'Why not make it the greatest city in America?' Brianna Gurciullo FacebookTwitterEmail STAMFORD — Bobby Valentine is taking the field. The Stamford native, Rippowam High School graduate, former Major League Baseball player and New York Mets manager, and current college athletics director announced Friday that he is running for mayor. “Many people … see things and ask why did they happen, and others see things that didn’t happen and ask why not — I’m one of those guys,” Valentine said earlier this week during an interview at his sports academy in Springdale. “I just want to know why not make it the greatest city in America, why not spend your time so that the people that you grew up with and the people that live with you are happy and content as they’re living, and I think that I’ve done a lot and I’ve learned a lot, and maybe my experience could make things better.”