Born in Troy, Ohio, Valentine threw and batted right-handed and was listed as 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and 203 pounds (92 kg).

His 12 victories put him in a three-way tie (with Joe Nuxhall and Art Fowler) for most on the Redleg staff, and he paced all Cincinnati pitchers with three shutouts; he also threw seven complete games, second-most on the club.

[1] However, plagued by arm miseries,[2] Valentine was demoted to the Redlegs' Triple-A Havana Sugar Kings affiliate after May 29, 1955.

In May 1956, Cincinnati traded him to the Milwaukee Braves, who assigned Valentine to their Double-A club, the Atlanta Crackers.

He retired from the force in 1992, and died in Roswell, Georgia, of congestive heart failure at age 76 on January 21, 2005.