From Mets to Japan: The Unlikely Journey of Five Former Players as Managers.
Five of the 12 managers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball have Major League Baseball experience, all of them played for the Mets. The connection between the Mets and Japanese baseball has been fostered over the years, with enthusiastic support from Bobby Valentine, the former Mets manager, who has led teams in both the United States and Japan. The lack of organizational continuity makes it hard to pin down the exact root of the connection, but Japanese teams place a value on experience in the U.S. major leagues.
