Who is wally backman

The demotion upset Backman, and he requested a trade. There is no place in it for me. Backman praised Johnson. He saw what I could do and had confidence in me. That took a lot of the pressure off. I could relax and play my game. He made only 10 errors at second. Johnson had also been named the Mets manager. In Backman started games at second for the Mets, batted. For the first four months of the season, Backman platooned with Kelvin Chapman.

When Chapman was sent down to the minors, Backman was given the job full-time job and he performed well offensively and defensively. Louis in the NL East. Spring training did nothing to clear up the competition at second. Backman entered the season platooning with Teufel, playing against right-handed pitchers. Backman played in 12 of the 13 Mets postseason games, batting. He and teammate Lee Mazzilli accused star outfielder Darryl Strawberry of faking an injury for two games.

Backman had two solid seasons platooning for the Mets. However, the team wanted to give one of its top prospects, Gregg Jefferies , a chance at second so Backman was put on the trading block again, and in December he was traded to the Minnesota Twins for three minor-league pitchers. After a win season, the Mets were expected to compete for the league lead, but a slow start to had people questioning many of the offseason moves, including the trade of Backman.

Backman bounced around once he left the Twins. He spent with Pittsburgh, and and with Philadelphia, and was released by both teams. Before the season, he signed a minor-league deal with Atlanta, but was cut before the season began. Backman retired to Oregon to live with his wife, Sandi, and his four children, but found himself wanting to get into managing.

Backman spent his first three managerial years with independent teams. Just before spring training, he was bitten on the forehead by a poisonous spider. While recovering, he was hit by a foul tip while standing next to the batting cage, causing more swelling. Despite his travails, his team finished the season in second place at Backman finished that stint with an overall record. He then spent two successful years with Double-A Birmingham, going with the Barons. Backman served as a minor league manager for the Mets from However, he resigned as the Triple-A manager following the season, and believes then general manager and current team president Sandy Alderson "back balled" him from receiving another opportunity in major league baseball.

And although Backman admittedly would jump at the opportunity to manage the Mets, he knows it's not going to happen. I never disrespected the man ever — ever. I did what he asked me to do.

According to Backman, Alderson wanted him gone after he ignored the Mets' orders to bat Brandon Nimmo in the leadoff spot against lefties and play Michael Conforto vs. Pitchers in non-DH games that appeared on the lineup card but didn't bat will still have a game in this column. Bold season totals indicate player led league. Sign up for the free Stathead newsletter and get scores, news and notes in your inbox every day.

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Postseason Batting Postseason Game Log. Standard Fielding. Appearances on Leaderboards, Awards, and Honors. Hall of Fame Statistics. Similarity Scores Explanation of Similarity Scores. More Backman Pages.