Former NY Mets Manager Bobby Valentine Running For Mayor In Connecticut

Bobby Valentine's been known as the unofficial Mayor of Stamford, CT for years, but now the former NY Mets skipper is looking to make it official ... running for the top seat in his hometown.

“I have passion for this city. I have a skill set that meets the requirements of leadership, management, of team building,” Valentine said in a recent interview.

Stamford is one of the wealthiest cities in Connecticut ... and it's the place 71-year-old Bobby V was born and raised.

Bobby says people are tired of the partisan BS in politics ... so he's not running affiliated with Republicans or Democrats.

"My main takeaway of the last five-plus months of campaigning is that for the most part people are really tired of the partisan divide that the two-party system has created here in the city and in the nation," Valentine said.

He might not be affiliated with either party, but that doesn't mean Valentine doesn't have powerful friends who have endorsed him. In fact, former president (and MLB team owner) George W. Bush has thrown his support behind Bobby V.

We're told Valentine hasn't been sitting at home, hoping his celebrity will carry him to a win at the polls ... he's been rubbing shoulders with people around town, even recently going to a Little League baseball game to shake hands and campaign.

Valentine last managed in 2012 ... when he was fired by the Boston Red Sox.

While his time in Beantown was marred by failures on the field ... Bobby V was a heckuva, albeit controversial, manager.

He managed the Mets from 1996 to 2002 ... leading the Mets to the World Series in 2000. The NYM lost that series to the NY Yankees.

One of the most notorious Bobby V stories went down in 1999. After getting ejected, Valentine returned to the dug an inning later wearing a bad disguise -- glasses and a mustache made out of eye black.