NEW YORK — That won’t necessarily be Bobby Valentine behind the sunglasses and fake mustache at Citi Field this summer.
Among several promotions the New York Mets announced Thursday is a Bobby Valentine Disguise Night on May 29, inspired by what the former manager donned to return to the dugout after being ejected from a game in 1999. The giveaway for the first 15,000 fans will be a glasses-mustaches getup similar to what was worn by Valentine.
“I love it!” Valentine wrote in a text to The Associated Press about the planned giveaway. “I’ll be there. Can’t wait.”
Though Valentine went 536-467 as the Mets manager from 1996 to 2002, and helped guide them to the 2000 World Series, he is perhaps best remembered for the dugout disguise. The now 75-year-old former manager has even played into that over the years.
When Valentine was introduced during a Mets’ Old-Timers’ Day in 2022, he came out donning a fake mustache, drawing a loud chuckle from the crowd at Citi Field.
During a television broadcast of a Mets game at the Los Angeles Angels in 2024, Valentine did an in-game interview in the Angels booth wearing a disguise.
It was on June 9, 1999, that the excitable Valentine was ejected from a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was tossed in the 12th inning but returned to the dugout with the fake mustache fashioned from eye black and sunglasses for the rest of the 4½-hour game that the Mets won in 14 innings.
Valentine was later suspended for two games and fined $5,000 for the stunt.