16
2011
Strike Up The Band, Wally Will Be Back-Man
An article by Craig Lerner
Last week, the New York Post really ruined my day (not really) when they reported that Wally Backman might be heading to the Washington Nationals to join Davey Johnson’s staff as his third-base coach.
Guess what? Wally is staying!!!!
Yes, it’s true and he even said so himself on the radio which you can check for yourself on MetsBlog if you don’t believe me, Bayonne. 
I find it interesting that nobody ever mentions that Backman’s team, the Binghamton Mets, finished in fifth place this season with a 66-76 record. Seems like all we heard last year was how great Wally managed the Cyclones in short-season league. Remember the love-fest?
Is he above such things as his poor record this season?
Wally was blessed with one of the most talent laden rosters of all the Mets affiliates this season. His roster featured an abundance of the best Mets prospects including Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, Jordany Valdespin, Juan Lagares, Matt Den Decker and Reese Havens. So what happened?
Look, I don’t mean to pick on Wally, I really don’t, but I just don’t understand why he gets the red carpet treatment from the fanbase. What has he done that makes him so much better than other former Mets like Tim Teufel or Mookie Wilson? And those two have been model citizens.
You look at Wally’s career and there’s nothing there and at 32 years old he was finished and out of the game. He had a career OPS of .687 for crying out loud and his glovework was nothing to write home about and please lets not forget his awful range.
He even gets the rock star treatment – when fans say his first name you know exactly who they mean like Elvis, Prince and Madonna. Just call him Wally.
What in the world is it about Wally?
Let me guess, it’s that gritty thing again, isn’t it?
Come on, admit it, you all saw that video when he managed the Peanuts and threw a bucket of balls and a handful of bats onto the field and used the “F” word a lot and thought “Wow, I wish our manager was like that”.
Everybody loves those fiery guys regardless of whether or not they have any skills or replacement level production. Oh and fiery guys make the best managers, right?
About the Author: Craig Lerner
I'm a data analyst and researcher for a leading news agency who loves life and is hooked on the Mets. I love following the Amateur Draft and have a particular fondness for the Mets Minor Leagues who I follow each day. Give me a cold beer, a summer day, and a Mets game, and I'm good to go.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 23 | 18 | .561 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 19 | .548 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.0 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 6.5 |
| Marlins | 11 | 31 | .262 | 12.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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Well we better get used to the idea that Backman will eventually manage the Mets.
The wholesale expulsion of Coaching staff say to me that Alderson is not as impressed with Collins as we might be.
Oberkfell was the telling firing, Fired after only a year says one thing to me. Sandy didn’t like the strategy that was used on situational maneuvers and Geren is there to make sure the Stat Minded opinion gets into Collins’ ears!
Remember Alderson believe the Manager is supposed to implement the GMs approach and our GMs approach is to go with the numbers!
And it will be interesting to see what difference Geren has compared to Oberkfell in the decisions Collins makes.
If there is no real significant change and Alderson in unhappy with that Backman could be here managing before you know it.
Hale left on his own accord so you can’t really read much into it.
I hear Mookie left because they didn’t like the way he positioned the OFers but was that positioning any worse compared to the Pitching whose coach remains?
I think Sandy is a little less impressed with Terry than we are and while they may have picked up his extention, all it means is they will pay him for a year while he looks for a job he could lose at the end of next season!
As for the lovefest with Backman it is nothing more than notalgia manifest.
Just like people want to retire Carter’s jersey despite the fact if anyone had his numbers on the current team they would be suggesting we cut him and eat the remainder of his contract! Even Jason Bay is putting up better numbers than Carter did! LOL
Glad Carter is doing well though!
I like the guy!
Just showing how what was great 26 years ago is crap today in the minds of people who were probably too young to see and remember correctly what that 86 team looked like!
Wally isn’t the next manager of the Mets. Bob Geren is. Don’t be shocked if he replaces Collins after ’13 (or before if Collins is fired). I’m guessing Alderson got a glowing recommendation from Billy Beane about his former manager/best man at the wedding, Bob Geren. An excellent “Yes” man for a moneyball front office whose only shortcoming is communicating with his players. Which Alderson is hoping can be corrected by learning from Collins while sitting next to him on the bench.
Craig, you’re asking pertinent questions about Wally.
Wally has some of the fan base loving his ‘wrong side of the tracks’ toughness. I myself sometimes find it compelling. But looking back about 25 years, Wally has a side to him which isn’t as appealing. He and especially Darryl were frequently rogues on airplane trips. Davey Johnson ignored them while sitting up front in the plane.
Has the statute of limitations expired? Maybe so. That’s why Wally needs to be considered. But it shouldn’t be a recommendation for him either.
Good job Craig.
I would say 75% of the Wally Wanting public wanted him for no reason other than his 86 history. The oter 25% wanted him because they wanted a fired up manager not another laid back guy like Manuel.
Truth is Collins AND Backman are pretty much the same kind of guys only Collins has had more experience and learned to temper his temper!
Both were 2Bs who were not very talented but got by because they played harder than anyone else and were GRITTY HARD NOSED baseball guys!
Backman was just lucky enough to do his work on a great team where Collins did not!
Collins did pretty much what you would have expected Backman to do in regards to dealing with Players and motivating them.
The question now is does the honeymoon end? Will Collins be ab;le to maintain that enthusiasm he put into the team this year or will that Get and Go get up and GO!
Much easier for a new manager to get his team excited and maintain a high level the first year. But enthusiasm at some point wears thin, especially in a season as long as we have in baseball. At some point it will seem routine to the players and they will not be so ready to respond and we have seen signs that Terry could go ballistic if that ever happens!
Remember that post game where he called the team out for closing it down.
It worked that time but how many more of those will he need and at what point will they NOT respond anymore?
I think Terry did a great job but the thing to look for next year is if he can maintain that focus in the players.
If they don’t improve or have that hot streak they had in May June and July again it could be close curtains for Collins and the raising of the Curtain on Backman.
Cause we just got a fine example of proof that Collins has no problems sacking people based on one year of work.
After two he would be even MORE willing if he doesn’t like what he sees!
Sorry last line should say Sandy not Collins
Inherited a talented roster? Being above a poor record and getting a pass? Getting rock star treatment?
Gee who else does that sound like?
And again if the writer knew ANYTHING about the game of baseball he’d know that posting Wally Backman’s OPS is completely irrelevant because you’re giving a stat that doesn’t apply the the type of player he was.
What was the OPS for Buddy Harrelson? Rafael Santana? Omar Vizquel? Ozzie Smith? Ed Brinkman? Mark Belanger? Jerry Remy? Duane Kuiper? Rey Ordonez? Daryl Hamilton? Phil Rizzuto? Felix Millan? Did Rennie Stennett have a good OPS? Imagine Bud Harrelson getting torn to shreds because of his stupid OPS on this site? Maybe in this day and age when our priorities about the game are being turned upside down that scenario isn’t so crazy. And what about one of the most famous Royals of all time? Freddie Patek? They gonna tear him down because of his OPS? Or did he bring more to that organization than that?
Wally Backman also had a higher career OPS than Bill Mazeroski or Ken Boswell!
You have players that fill certain team’s roles. Wally was a good player, a good little hitter, and a winning type player and not a bad fielder.
I didn’t hear a whole lot of criticism about his fielding when he played. I don’t know how old Craig Lerner is so I don’t know if he saw Wally play or is just basing his hateful writing on reading stats years later.
It just goes to show you how misguided, misdirected, and misinformed this new generation of saber “know nothings” of the information age is and and unfortunately the internet gives them a loud voice.
Wally actually did a tremendous job with the Bmets. The opening day roster had little talent and the Bmets finised the all-star break with a 30-21 record once Lugares (38 games), Denn Dekker (72 games) and Harvey (12 starts) got called up. The only consistently good players on the team were Valdespin and Satin untill they got called up to Buffalo. Also Havens only played 58 games because of his oblique and Familia only made 17 starts because of his shoulder and time in St. Lucie. Considering everything that happened the B-mets continually imporved as their wins broke down in the following way
Aprl- 7-12
May- 9-22
June- 12-17
July- 16-15
August- 20-7
So once Wally started to get guys back from injuries and had some talent come through he was very successful and the B-mets made a strong run.
Thanks for posting the real story as opposed to the false, slanted, and DISHONEST story the author posted.
Minor league won lost records are , excuse the pun, “minor.” I would not judge any manager on minor league stats (like you did in your article). The minor leagues exist to devolop raw talent and is more instructional than competitive. They could for example leave a pitcher in longer to teach him how to work out of a bases loaded situation or they could put a player in that just got called up from A or AA ball and he has an adjustment period for the next level or a player could be on the bubble and they play him more for an evaluation. Lots of examples where you can sacrifice a win for player development. And finally major leaguers oin rehab. They are playing to get ready for their return to the big club and their game stats are suboridinated to their conditioning. There are many reason minor league records are not relevant to managerial skills. I just named a few.
If the Eastern League divided it’s season in halves like many of the other leagues do the BMets with their 30-21 2nd half would of won their second half and made the playoffs.
Harvey, Den Decker & Lagares were in the FSL for most of the 1st half of the season Lagares didn’t get promoted till late July. Havens played all of 58 games.
Why you can’t understand why Backman is well liked by many I can’t say but I like Backman because he was part of the 86 W.S. team and anyone that saw him play that year would know why he is liked by so many. I really don’t think it’s any more complicated than that.
I understand, and I pointed to his minor league season as a counter to all the ones who did last year and didnt this year.
As I said, I dont mean to knock Wally, I just dont understand why he gets royal treatment. What about some love for Danny, Rafael, Kevin, Tim, Ed and Randy?
They were not platoon players with no power, no defensive ability, no arm, and no toughness that I ever ACTUALLY witnessed. As I said before, Dykstra was WAY TOUGHER, so was Knight. The only thing I ever got from Wally was that he talked a lot tougher than he was. Wally Backman’s toughness is a myth.
Funny,
I actually witnessed Wally playing and came away with the complete opposite perception you got. He was gritty, tough, hard-nosed player who always got his uniform dirty, a very good hitter from the left side but very weak from the right which probably brought his overall average down.
He was a good baserunner, good bat handler, selfless, and done all kinds of things batting 2nd helping that lineup win games. He was good with that lineup. And I do not remember any complaints about his defense at the team and I certainly had no problem with it. And I also don’t remember him being a tough guy or tough talker in the mold of Ray Knight but Wally was tough in his approach to playing.
And since he got 400+ and 500+ ABs sometimes he was more of a starter than platoon during his time with the Mets especially before they got Teufel from Minnesota because he was a lefty.
To label him just a platoon player is not fair at all.
He platooned with Teufel when teufel was here. And I have no gripe with him, I agree he was a solid punch hitter as a lefty. You cannot be serious about his D. No arm and no range. His hands were not great either. My gripe is this toughness myth. He talked tough. Getting a uniform dirty is not toughness. It is hustle.
They all get love some more than others maybe but they all get love I would say.
When I think of 86 the 1st names that pop into my head are Gooden, Strawberry, Hernandez, Carter, Dykstra and Backman. For each individual is different but for me those names tops the list. That don’t mean I don’t have love for HoJo, Orosco, McDowell and Mitchell of course I do and I would guess most fans have love for that entire 86 team as well.
I love the pun and completely agree. I brought up the minor league record this season because last year at this time, readers from this site consistently brought up his Cyclones season as evidence he was ready to manage the Mets. I completely agree with all your points especially that the minors are more instructional than competitive.
Metfan, this comment was in reply to yours.
I’m glad Wally has decided to remain with the Mets. I can forsee Wally being the next mgr. of the Mets after the TC Mets era plays itself out. Jeff Wilpon once told Wally, if you keep your nose clean and manage well in the minors, you’ll be manager of the Mets someday. Many of the yong players Wally has managed in the minors, rave about him. He’s a very good communicator, probably better than TC, commands respect, hustle and focus to one’s craft with most of his players and is regarded as a good handler of a pitching staff and bullpen which is one of the main duties of mgr. yet, as Rubin said, the Mets FO still has some concerns how Wally is going to speak to and relate to the media during pressers and pre and post game which is a bunch of BS. Yes, Wally is functionally literate and no, Wally is not going to go into some expletive laden tirade like Ozzie Guillen of the White Sox, Marlins when speaking to the media. I certainly can see Wally arriving in the bigs as mgr. of the Mets in 2013-2014 along with Familia,Harvey, Wheeler, etc. from the minors.
The only smart thing the Wilpons have done is NOT make this guy the manager. Why the lovefest? Because he is fiery? He was a mediocre (at best) player and he is a below average minor league manager. If the Mets had any interest in Backman being a future manager of this team, they would have, at least, considered him for the vacant bench coaching position. This guy was a Met for awhile, so we like him because of that…you know who else was a Met for awhile…Bobby Bonilla and Steve Tracshel…no one is crying for them to be manager. However, Backman is a better minor league manager than Tim Teufel…so that is in his favor.
Wally Backman has a personal history of making bad decisions. If he passed up a chance to be on Davey Johnson’s staff in Washington, add this decision to the list. There will be no future on this sinking ship of a franchise. Bob Geren is perfect for this team…. a loser who can’t communicate. Sell, Fred, sell…..
Hey Craig….I am curious as to how old you are because anyone who saw Wally Backman play could tell that he was a hard nosed, uniform dirty, hustling guy. His average skills on the field were greatly enhanced by his attitude. He was a winner no doubt and has basically done well throughout his minor league managing career. Lest we forget that he was going to be a major league manager until some personal problems got in the way!