3
2009
One Nut Job For Another?
An article by 
You may have heard over the weekend that Wally Backman was fired from his job as manager of the Joliet Jack Hammers of the Northern League. I love Wally, he was a great Met, but I’m not surprised he was let go.
What is surprising though, is that some Mets fans are considering and hoping that the Mets hire Backman to replace Tony Bernazard as Vice President in charge of Player Development or Jerry Manuel as manager.
Please God, no. Let me explain why this would be a total catastrophe in the making and one that could haunt us for years to come.
Unlike his other dismissals, Wally Backman was let go for a more traditional reason this time around; his team (24-42) wasn’t winning.
“The fans in Joliet deserve a winner,” said Backman. “I’m disappointed that we could not get the job done.”
Backman is no stranger to controversy, and he has had a long history of bizarre and outlandish behavior. So much so, that he would make Tony Bernazard look like Mahatma Gandhi in comparison.
Not too long ago, while manager of the South Georgia Peanuts, Backman had a complete meltdown after one of his players had been thrown out of a game for arguing balls and strikes. It was Child Care Day and at Anderson Memorial Stadium, when a half-crazed Backman stormed out of the dugout and all hell broke loose. This is how a local journalist reported it.
Backman dropped several F-bombs on Height, then kicked dirt on home plate, prompting Height to eject Backman. The former New York Mets star responded to the move by tossing equipment onto the playing field. Not only did he hurl 22 bats onto the grass, he also emptied a bucket of baseballs down the third base line. The situation was made worse by the fact that Backman’s foul language was clearly audible since there were only a handful of fans left in the stadium. Some of those fans were, in fact, children.
When the game ended, with the host Anderson Joes claiming a 6-5 victory, Backman made his way to the Joes radio booth to confront play-by-play man Mike Janela about comments Janela made referring to Backman’s “childish”outburst.
This particular outburst took place after Backman returned from a prior three game suspension for bumping an umpire. Backman would eventually unexpectedly quit as manager of the Peanuts, with half the season left to play.
Backman showed signs of being an uncontrolled hot-head going all the way back to his first managerial job with the Lancaster Jet Hawks.
In case you’re keeping score, add five bats and three chairs to Wally Backman’s growing collection of post-ejection objects tossed onto the field. The fiery Jet Hawks manager’s most recent tirade came in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s 8-3 loss to Inland Empire, with a wildly entertained crowd of 4,522 at Arrowhead Credit Union Park cheering Backman as each item came flying out of the Jet Hawks dugout. Backman, who’s already received five ejections, has tossed a bat rack and emptied a trash can after previous differences of opinions with California League umpiring crews.
In 2004, Wally Backman was about to fulfill his dream of managing in the majors, but after just four days on the job, Backman was fired as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks following revelations that he had been arrested twice and had serious financial problems. Backman was asked during his D-Backs interview whether there was anything in his past that the Diamondbacks should know, and he answered no. Days later, Arizona officials were so shocked and dismayed at the results of their background check, that they had no choice but to let Backman go.
He was arrested in 2001 after a fight at his home involving his wife and one of her friends in Prineville, Ore. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment and was sentenced to 12 months’ probation, ordered to undergo an anger management evaluation and donate $1,000 to the local Boys and Girls Club.
Backman was also arrested, and later convicted, on a driving under the influence charge in Kennewick, Wash., in 2000. He also filed for bankruptcy that year to avoid paying 20 creditors as well as the IRS.
Now, I’m a firm believer in giving people second chances and in some cases third and fourth chances. I also believe that some people can change. However, the last thing the Mets need right now is Wally Backman.
What this team needs more than anything else right now is some calm in what has been a raging storm.
Many reporters and fans have called out Omar Minaya for hiring Tony Bernazard in the first place because his outbursts and outlandish behavior were well documented. None were surprised by Tony B’s antics, only that he managed to stay on as long as he did.
Backman fits this mold so perfectly. The red flags and warning signs are all there. He would be the worst choice to replace Bernazard. It would be cruel and unusual punishment to subject our prospects to yet another potential train wreck. We have suffered through enough embarrassing moments this past season. Lets not compound that by hiring Wally Backman.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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Joe, your referencing a TV documentary that was shown a few years ago featuring Wally Backman. If Wally B. has his alcoholism under control I see no reason why the Mets would not hire him. Joe you make Wally B. sound like some little Monster. Backman is in the Larry Bowa mold. Larry Bowa did not work out as a Manager but by all accounts he has found his niche as a 3rd Base Coach/Infield Coach. I would absolutely love Backman to be a part of the Mets Major League coaching staff.
I think your being rude and judgmental to refer to Backman as a “nut job.”
Was Dwight Gooden a “nut job” when he pitched games strung out on coke?
Was Keith Hernandez a “nut job” because he would “party” all night and then take a handful of “green pills” to help him play the afternoon game?
Joe you could write the same article about any major league player from that era just change the name and verbiage.
Backman has never been gotten “favorable” media coverage like Gooden or Hernandez because he doesn’t play the “say all the right thing media games.”
Wouldn’t Backman be a good fit with this team as our 3rd base Coach? Razor Shines could easily coach younger players, that’s his strength anyway. Lets face it Met players are not even looking at Shines at this point when they round 3rd base.
Totally agree with you on Shines. He’s terrible and even Alomar was better. Disagree on Wally though. Maybe five years ago I’d consider him, but this Mets team has too many things that need fixing and throwing Backman into the mix would make things worse. What makes him qualified to be third base coach anyway? Does he have some body of work there that we should know about?
Awesome Joe. Agree 100%. I want no part of this joker.
I read the NYBD article who has the opposite opinion. I have to agree with you. Our fanbase is still too emotionally attached to the 86 Mets and they would have the entire team working for us in some capacity if they could without considering their qualifications. We need to hire the best qualified people for this team, and get off this 86 Mets obsession.
While I do agree that Backman at least right after Tony B should not be hired by the Mets.
However William I wouldn’t mind if Keith Hernandez became the hitting coach, I know some say he should manage but I don’t and I certainly wouldn’t mind Ron Darling being the pitching coach, his knowledge of the game and of the other teams offense is amazing, he would only help our starters. And I believe that Howard Johnson needs to go, he’s just not helping our guys at the plate.
Wow, Backman might toss his shirt on to the field instead of taking it off in the clubhouse.
I take the point that William H. mentioned about Met fans being too emotionally attached to the ’86 team, I am one of those fans. Guilty. Hhaha, Good call William! I love Backmam’s “emotional investment/passion.” It seems nearly impossible these days to find a player or coach who posses a healthy balance of visible gritty intensity while at the same time having the media savvy to keep the media flesh eating vultures at bay. Thanks for the article Joe. Ozzie G?? Charlie M.?
The team celebrates the Dodgers, a team that left the city 50 years ago, then cheapens their brand by putting Los Mets on their uniform, spends $400 million building a crummy ball park with obstructed views, that stinks of sausage. A team with a horrible TV station and no programming. And you are worried about whether Wally Backman is will besmirch the brand? What brand? I have been going to games since 62 at the Polo grounds. This team has no heart. I’d rather see Don Bosch and John Lewis play their hearts out then this bunch. Ooooh Wally might kick dirt on the plate, ooooh he might have a beer. Look at your history, it is filled with characters from Marvelous Marv to Casey to Choo Choo to Bobby V. and everyone in between. The Wilpons have neutered the franchise and you are worried about whether Wally Backman is too over the top? Hire Wally!
NO. not only will he have a worse attitude than Bernazard, but he’ll be terrible at developing players.
Look, why would you object to Backman in some capacity at the minor league level? Other than Hojo, what Met is there on this club? Listen to what his team mate says about his coaching ability.
http://mets.fandome.com/video/35515/Ron-Darling-on-Wally-Backman/
You put up with Bernazard for years and he never produced anything. Backman has more player development through coaching than TB ever will have.
Happy Jack makes a lot of great points. A question for you Happy Jack; was Choo Choo Coleman a rel 2nd Baseman or a fictional SNL character created by Garret Morris?
From this description, it sounds like Wally should have spent time behind bars.
I’m not sure exactly what to think of this Wally Backman story. But I found the link to the writer who write the original piece (nybaseballdigest.com). I’m an author and not a fan of people not giving credit where original ideas came from. “Mets Fans” didn’t come up with this idea it was from a writer. I bet the nerd crew would be all up in arms if one of these graphics was used and didn’t say who did it. Maybe its time to open the door to the nerd lab and get some air. Us writers don’t like people using our words without recognition.
Jerry,
The original article was the one that said Backman was fired and reported by the Daily News and NY Post among others on Twitter referencing the article I linked to. If you read the comments and tweets that day, you would have seen 50/50 Mets fans wanting him or not wanting him. I chose to write about not wanting him to replace Tony B or even Manuel. If you have an opinion on that, than you’re welcome to share it, if not, I can’t help you. I wrote this article on the night of August 2nd an 11:55 PM, and it was in our scheduling queue for 10:00 AM August 3rd, not that it would matter, but I detected a bit of an assumption in your comment. If you see anything in my article that was taken directly from then NYBD article you cite, please point it out to me, because I can attest that you will not find any. If you are a writer as you claim to be, the only thing worse than what you insinuated, is unfairly attacking the integrity of another writer based on assumptions with no trace of evidence or facts to back it up. Your assertions were only intended to malign me.
Joe, you shouldn’t even have dignified that comment with a reply. Of all the sites, this is the only one that features mostly original content. While most other Mets sites report the Mets news, I like the fact that your site analyzes all the Mets news. Regardless of whether I agree with your opinions or not, I always enjoy the debates on this site.
One more thing. Our graphics are free to use for any Mets fans. We create them freely as a labor of love for our beloved team. Nobody pays us and we make no profit off of them. We encourage their use, and over 30,000 of our graphics are in active use right now. That’s a lot of Mets love we helped to create.
Joe,
Thank you for responding to my comment. I’m touchy about this subject because a few years back somebody stole work off my computer and used it for there book. The book was hugely success and it was my work that was in there. Unfortunately, your web site does not have any sort of time stamp and I have found no record in the post or daily news archives. Please post the link so I could see where you found it. This sounds more like the commentary from Mets Blog because I did read it over there. I have no intentions to attack you in any way, however, I know writers can forget where an idea came from when they get lost in the piece. Plus it bothers me that I see too much of people’s quotes getting put up on other web sites without credit. I believe I’ve even seen quotes from a few of your articles on other sites without credit. I’d just like to see the ethical and commendable thing for the integrity of the industry.