Triple-A Las Vegas manager Wally Backman has left the organization, Mets GM Sandy Alderson said on Monday. He has worked his way up the ranks to Binghamton, Buffalo and now Las Vegas, where he has been the head man in charge since 2013.
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“Wally has chose to move on”, Alderson said. He declined comment to the New York Post’s Mike Puma, but said, “I will have plenty to say later”.
Backman has managed in the Mets’ organization since taking over as manager of the St. Lucie Mets back in 2009. I hope he ends up in the American League – I don’t want to have to see my favorite team compete against him.
And while it’s fair to say a bench coach only gets noticed when something goes wrong, it’s also fair to point out that it was Scott’s job to make sure Terry Collins wasn’t so distracted with pitching moves on Saturday night that he forgot to pinch-run for Wilmer Flores in a crucial spot. The Jack Leathersich incident is pretty infamous among diehard Mets fans and caused Backman to come under fire. He spent nine seasons with the Mets, helping them win the 1986 World Series.
Backman, 56, has managed in the organization since 2010, including the team’s Triple-A affiliate for the last five seasons. Anybody who ever covered Backman, in fact, loved him for his passion and candor, in good times and bad, not to mention how hard he played the game.
I don’t think Alderson viewed Backman as orderly enough, and I I think he may have feared how Backman would do with media, talking off and on record with reporters and handling multiple types of players (old and young).
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Some people in the organization are convinced Alderson would have fired Backman on more than one occasion if owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon didn’t have a sense of loyalty to their former player.
