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New York Mets News: Wally Backman Leaves MiLB Job Over Disrespect

By Mark Suleymanov
Published on: 08:55 PST, Sep 13, 2016

Former Mets infielder and minor league manager Wally Backman resigned as manager of the team’s Triple-A squad, the Las Vegas 51s, on Monday and claims that disrespect prompted the move.

Backman, 56, managed the 51s from 2013 to 2016 and had been a manager within the Mets organization since 2010. However, the former member of the 1986 World Series champion Mets says he decided to leave the organization due to him constantly being passed up for a major league coaching gig.

“At this time, they have shown no future for me at the major-league level. I have done my work to deserve an opportunity and that was not going to happen in New York,” Backman said to Mike Francesa on WFAN. “Not so much as the manager, but a coach. I was passed over a few times by guys, who you know your skills are as good if not better, so it was time.”

Several reports suggested that Backman was fired, citing his reluctance to follow through with the team’s orders in regards to the usage of young players. Mike Puma of the New York Post tweeted that not batting Brandon Nimmo leadoff or playing Michael Conforto against left-handed pitchers in Triple-A were two issues that led to his firing. Marc Carig of Newsday added that an organization member described Backman as “doing his own thing” while managing.

Backman called those allegations “hogwash” while reciting statistics to deny the claims. Backman said that Conforto started in 31 of 33 games with the 51s and pinch hit in the other two games. Conforto went 20 for 41 with three home runs against left-handed pitching, Backman noted. Backman also said that Nimmo batted first or second in 84 of 90 games this year with Las Vegas.

“Whoever put that out there, the source within the system, they lied,” Backman said. “And that’s the part that pisses me off.”

A fan favorite, Backman was never the ideal candidate, at least in the mind of Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, who continually passed up Backman for an MLB coaching role. However, Alderson was complimentary of his now-former minor league skipper.

“I thought he did a fine job for us,” Alderson said. “We had many players come through Las Vegas and graduate to the Major League level, establish themselves in New York, and he was part of that development process. In addition, other than this year, the teams there were very competitive and successful on a won-lost basis. So he did a good job for us.”

After several years of managing on the independent level — and being fired from a promotion to manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks in November 2004 after a New York Times report revealed the extent of Backman’s financial and legal troubles — he was brought back to the Mets during the 2009 offseason.

Backman’s first role was to manage the High-A St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League. Weeks into his new role, he was re-assigned to the short-season Low-A Brooklyn Cyclones, leading the team to a 51-24 record, which is good for first place in the New York-Penn League’s McNarma division. In the offseason, Backman was on a short list of candidates that including Terry Collins, Chip Hale, and Bomb Melvin to manage the big league squad with the departure of Jerry Manuel.

The Mets elected to hire Terry Collins and promoted Backman to the manager of the Double-A Binghamton Mets. Disappointed in being passed up, Backman expressed excitement over continuing his managerial career.

“It’s time to get rolling,” Backman said. “There’s always a bit of disappointment and it’s frustrating, but it’s not a long period. Now I’m here to focus on Binghamton and try to get those guys ready for the big leagues.”

Backman will likely continue to pursue a coaching job at the major league level.

[Image via Wikimedia Commons Public Domain]

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