Wally backman5/16/2023 Backman is also a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.ĭisclaimer: AthleteSpeakers assists companies seeking to hire talent like Wally Backman for speaking engagements, virtual meetings, appearances, product endorsements, and business sanctions. He has been named Sporting News Minor League Manager of the Year and the Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year. Backman has gone on to a very successful career as a minor league manager. The Mets originally drafted him as the 16th overall pick in 1977. Following his time in New York, he also played for the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, and Seattle Mariners. Backman was first called up by the Mets in 1980 and first won the starting second base job in 1984. That season was also the first time he hit over. 333 in the 1986 World Series that was improbably won by the Mets over the Boston Red Sox. I don't know if we would have scored all those other runs, but it was very, very fortunate for us.Wally Backman achieved great notoriety as a second baseman for the New York Mets in the 1980s. "Everybody doesn't know, but Mookie was going to be safe at first, anyway. "The guys were scared to face Mike Scott if it went to Game 7 and to be able to come back in Game 6 the way we did and win that game, and then doing the same thing basically against Boston in Game 6 of the World Series, coming back with Buckner making the error at first base. "The Houston series was an unbelievable, well-pitched series," Backman said. Backman said many of the players from that team still get together every other year, and he went on to hint that it wouldn't have mattered whether Bill Buckner had fielded the ball cleanly or not in Game 6. Nasser and Backman also had a little fun during the interview, talking about Backman's playing days with the Mets - more specifically the 1986 World Championship team. I think that's one of the key ingredients - that and communication with your players, and I try to keep my door open all the time and be honest with my players." "But I take a lot of pride in knowing how to run a bullpen. They're the ones who can really speak for me as opposed to me speaking for myself. "The only thing people have to do is talk to the players that I have managed over the course of my career - the Carlos Quentins, the Dan Ugglas, the Conor Jacksons, the Aaron Rowands. "Well, I'm a players' guy," Backman said. Nasser asked him what made him think he had the tools to be a successful major league manager. "Right now, my main concern and goal is to try to get these guys better here in Las Vegas and to try to get them to the big leagues." I think I'll get an opportunity at some time. My desires have not changed at all to manage in the big leagues. "The Wilpons gave me another opportunity to come back into affiliated baseball and do what I want to do. I felt that I was - you know, everything that was out there - just an unfortunate situation and I tried to put all that behind me. "They thought that I wasn't totally honest them. it was a growing period, I guess" he said. Nasser asked him what he learned from the experience with Arizona. The 51s won a division title in 2013 and are poised to win another one this season (they are leading by 10.5 games with just a couple of weeks remaining).īackman, 54, was a guest on the Omaha Storm Chasers pre-game show with Mark Nasser recently when Las Vegas visited Omaha. Ten years after Wally Backman was fired from his managerial position with the Arizona Diamondbacks before he ever managed a single game due to a report that surfaced saying he was hiding legal and financial problems (you can read more here), he's still hoping for another shot in the big leagues.īackman, who started his comeback in independent ball, has worked his way up to Triple-A, where he is currently in his second season as the manger of the Las Vegas 51s in the Pacific Coast League.
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