Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine, who guided the New York Mets to the World Series in 2000, on Monday arrived in Japan to return to the baseball scene here for the first time in nine years for his second campaign with the Pacific League club.
Valentine, who landed a three-year deal with the Marines as a replacement for Koji Yamamoto last November, said he has already narrowed down his first-choice starters and will call for meetings with coaches before spring training kicks off Feb. 1 in Kagoshima.
Also, South Korean slugger Lee Seung Yeop, who arrived in Japan a day earlier, met some of his new teammates for the first time and spent two hours training at the Marines' practice facility where he focused mainly on batting and running.