NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 18, 2025--
Steel Partners Holdings L.P. (OTCQX: SPLP) today announced that Bobby Valentine, former Major League Baseball player, manager and executive, has been appointed to the Steel Sports Advisory Board. Steel Sports, a subsidiary of Steel Partners, is focused on putting Kids First and creating a new standard in youth sports and coaching while forging the next generation of leaders.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251118305256/en/
Valentine is a longtime friend and collaborator of Warren Lichtenstein, Founder & Executive Chairman of Steel Partners Holdings L.P. and Founder of Steel Sports. Valentine brings decades of experience as a coach, leader, and international ambassador for the game of baseball. He will serve as a key advisor to Steel Sports’ leadership, helping advance its mission to put Kids First and develop the next generation of leaders through sports.
“I’ve known Bobby for many years, and he’s someone who truly lives our values of Teamwork, Respect, Integrity, and Commitment, ” said Warren Lichtenstein. “He believes in helping others grow and succeed, both on and off the field. His leadership will help us deepen our impact and advance our mission to inspire young people to reach their potential through our Kids First approach.”
Valentine’s storied career includes managing the Texas Rangers, New York Mets, and Boston Red Sox, as well as leading Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines to a Japan Series Championship in 2005, which made him one of the few managers in history to achieve success in both Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball. Recently, it was announced that Valentine will be inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame, a fitting recognition of his impact on the game. With 1,186 career wins as a manager, he has built a legacy defined by leadership, resilience, and a deep commitment to developing people. His experiences have reinforced his belief that sports can build character and mold future leaders.
Valentine’s journey began under the guidance of his first manager in the Minor Leagues, Tommy Lasorda, while playing for the Ogden Dodgers. Lasorda, Steel Sports’ enduring inspiration, played a pivotal role in shaping Valentine’s early career. That connection sparked a remarkable friendship that spanned more than forty years, rooted in mutual respect, a shared passion for the game, and a commitment to mentoring young athletes.
“I’m honored to join Steel Sports and support Warren’s vision of putting kids first,” said Bobby Valentine. “Whether it’s in Japan, the U.S., or anywhere in the world, the lessons learned through sports are universal. Steel Sports is helping kids learn life lessons, and I’m excited to be part of an organization that’s creating positive change through the game I love.”
Martin Brown, President of Steel Sports, added, “Bobby’s energy, authenticity, and global perspective perfectly reflect what Steel Sports stands for. He has coached on some of the biggest stages in the world, yet he has always been focused on teaching life lessons through sports. His experience, especially his success in Japan and his ability to connect across cultures, will bolster our efforts to instill our core values in our athletes.”
Founded in 2011, Steel Sports has positively impacted nearly 100,000 children through its coaching programs, community service initiatives, and values-based youth development model known as The Steel Coaching System – The Lasorda Way. Through its national network of coaches, teams, and partners, Steel Sports is building a movement to inspire character, leadership, and lifelong success through sports.
About Bobby Valentine
Bobby Valentine is a former Major League Baseball player, manager, and executive whose career has spanned more than five decades across the U.S. and Japan. He managed the Texas Rangers, New York Mets, and Boston Red Sox, and led Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines to the 2005 Japan Series and Asia Series Championships. Valentine recorded 1,186 wins as a manager, and it was recently announced that he will be inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame. Off the field, Valentine has served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University and has been a leader in education, youth sports, and community engagement.
About Steel Sports
Steel Sports, ( www.steelsports.com ) a wholly owned subsidiary of Steel Partners Holdings L.P., is a social impact organization created in 2011 to put Kids First and change lives through sports. Its purpose is to forge a path of success for the next generation by instilling values, building character, and teaching life lessons both on and off the field. Through The Steel Coaching System - The Lasorda Way, Steel Sports offers kids a positive and fun environment, empowering them to reach their full potential and develop essential skills such as empathy, resilience, and leadership.
About Steel Partners Holdings L.P.
Steel Partners Holdings L.P. ( www.steelpartners.com ) is a diversified global holding company that owns and operates businesses and has significant interests in various companies, including diversified industrial products, energy, defense, supply chain management and logistics, direct marketing, banking, and youth sports.
Bobby Valentine
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments at 10 a.m. ET over the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to someone in the country illegally or temporarily.
The birthright citizenship order, which Trump signed on Jan. 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, is part of his Republican administration’s broad immigration crackdown.
Trump plans to be in attendance. He will be the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the nation’s highest court.
Every lower court to have considered the issue has found the order illegal and prevented it from taking effect. A definitive ruling by the nation’s highest court is expected by early summer.
Here’s the latest:
Way back in 1841, former President John Quincy Adams represented a shipload of African men and women who had been sold into slavery in the famous Amistad case.
Former President William Howard Taft became chief justice nearly eight years after leaving the White House in 1913. Charles Evans Hughes left the Supreme Court for a presidential run in 1912, which he nearly won, then returned to the court in 1930 as chief justice.
In 1966, Richard Nixon argued his only Supreme Court case, which he lost.
Twenty-four Democratic state attorneys general put out a statement Wednesday morning saying they’re “proud to lead the fight against this unlawful order.”
While Democratic attorneys general have sued the Trump administration scores of times, the plaintiffs in this case are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups.
The Democratic attorneys filed court papers supporting their position. Twenty-five of their Republican counterparts filed a friend-of-the-court brief backing the Trump administration.
The only state sitting this one out is New Hampshire.
More than 250,000 babies born in the U.S. each year would not be citizens, according to research from the Migration Policy Institute and Pennsylvania State University’s Population Research Institute.
The order would only apply going forward, the administration has said. But opponents have said a court ruling in Trump’s favor could pave the way for a later effort to take away citizenship from people who were born to parents who were not themselves U.S. citizens.
The president and first lady Melania Trump showed up for the court ritual marking the arrival of a new justice following the confirmations of Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Justice Brett Kavanaugh a year later.
The ceremony for Trump’s third appointee, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, was delayed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Trump, who was no longer in office, did not attend.
Traditionally the president has avoided attending arguments to maintain distance between the government branches — since the executive officer’s presence is seen by many as a way to pressure the independent court to rule in their favor.
Given the unusual nature of it all — Trump’s presence in the courtroom spotlights how high the stakes are for him, as the court’s decision will have massive consequences on his longstanding promise to crack down on immigration.
Last year, Trump said that he badly wanted to attend a hearing on whether he overstepped federal law with his sweeping tariffs, but he decided against it, saying it would have been a distraction.
Adam Winkler, a constitutional law professor at UCLA, told the The Associated Press that Trump’s attending SCOTUS oral arguments signals how important the president views this case.
However, Trump’s presence “is unlikely to sway the justices,” Winkler said, adding that the SCOTUS justices “pride themselves in their independence, even if some agree with much of Trump’s agenda.”
The fanfare of Trump being in the courtroom will make for a different experience for the justices themselves, however, as “Trump’s presence will make the atmosphere a little bit more circus-like,” Winkler said.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer is making his ninth Supreme Court argument and second in as many weeks. Sauer’s biggest win to date was the presidential immunity decision that spared Trump from being tried for his effort to overturn the 2020 election.
Sauer was a Supreme Court law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia early in his legal career.
ACLU legal director Cecillia Wang, the child of Chinese immigrants, is presenting her second argument to the Supreme Court. In the first Trump administration, a 5-4 conservative majority ruled against Wang’s clients in another immigration case.
It’s not an April Fool’s joke. Alito was born this day in 1950. Only Thomas, who turns 78 in June, is older than Alito among the nine justices.
In the post-pandemic era, the other justices allow the 77-year-old Thomas, the longest-serving member of the court, to pose a question or two before the free-for-all begins.
In a second round of questioning, the justices ask questions in order of seniority. Chief Justice John Roberts, whose center chair makes him the most senior, gets the first crack.
The justices have routinely gone beyond the allotted time since returning to the courtroom following the Covid-19 pandemic.
A buzzer and the court marshal’s cry, “All rise,” signal the justices’ entrance from behind red curtains. The livestream won’t kick in for several minutes, until after the ceremonial swearing-in of lawyers to the Supreme Court bar.
FILE - The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington on Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
People arrive to walk inside the U.S. Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. The Supreme Court justices will hear oral arguments today on whether President Donald Trump can deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
