Wally's World

As much as it pains me to return to the blogosphere after nearly two months of neglecting ye faithful readers of My Two Cents with less-than-happy news, I felt it my responsibility as a connoisseur of the Orange and Blue to share some news that came across the AP wire this evening.

ALBANY, Ga. (AP) … Wally Backman joined the independent South Coast League
hoping to show he deserved another chance to manage in the big leagues. He
didn't even make it through the season.
Backman resigned Tuesday as manager of the Albany-based South Georgia
Peanuts after numerous run-ins with umpires, an argument with a radio announcer
and even a forfeited game when his team refused to return to the field after a
brawl with rival Macon.
Backman stepped down even though he led the Peanuts to the first-half title
and had them in first place through the first 23 games of the second half.
The brief, stormy tenure is sure to hurt Backman's chances of hooking up
with a major league organization. He was hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks
shortly after the 2004 season, only to get fired less than a week later after
reports surfaced that he had been arrested twice and struggled with financial
problems.
Backman was out of the game for the past two seasons and admitted that no
one wanted to hire him. He finally took a job with the first-year South Coast
League, eager to get another chance in the majors.
The former second baseman helped the New York Mets win the 1986 World
Series.

Normally, when someone is shunned and blackballed for the type of alleged behavior that has kept Sir Wallace from getting a real managing job, I would shrug it off with a simple “fuck ‘em.”

But this is Wally Backman, one half of the Wild Boys, who was just as responsible for the Mets’ success in the mid-80’s and the 1986 world title as anyone else on that squad, including Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Doc Gooden, et al.

Backman remains one of my favorite baseball players of all time, and it’s a pity that his fiery personality and scrappy approach to baseball has gotten his in such hot water off the field.

I, for one, hope Wally can get his shit together and does get a Major League managerial job someday.

I would even welcome him to Flushing.