In a piece for the New York Times, Tyler Kepner catches up with former Mets manager Bobby Valentine for a quick interview.Kepner notes that Valentine is so popular in Japan that a beer and a hamburger have been named for him. That is truly a sign that he has "arrived".
Among other things, Valentine discusses the effect on Japanese baseball when their star's migrate to the states, why steroids have not been an issue in Japan, and why he doesn't miss MLB.
Valentine as quoted by Kepler on the Mets' philosophy while he was there:
"After we got to the World Series we just wanted to pluck [success] out of the sky and have it. People said, “I can’t believe they went to the World Series with that team.” Then the people in power said, “Well, we can’t let our fans ever say that about us again.”
I always liked the cooky Bobby V. and am glad he has been so well received over in Japan. 
