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October 5, 2009 Bring Wally Back Man Joe Janish

Hire Wally – Sign the Petition

Over a year ago a petition was started requesting the return Wally Backman to the Mets organization.

The petition is still alive, and now is a good time to sign it if you haven’t already and believe he should be given another chance.

Contrary to popular belief, this petition was not to make Wally the manager of the Mets. All his supporters want is for Backman to be given a shot to work somewhere inside the organization:

We believe his history as a New York Met coupled with his outstanding minor league track record would make him a great fit for a coaching job somewhere in the Mets organization. Do the right thing and give Wally Backman a second chance in affiliated baseball.

Today, Jon Heyman reported that the Mets are considering bringing Wally back:

The team now appears willing to give scrappy fan favorite Wally Backman a second chance to return to baseball in a minor-league job. Backman has technically not been given a new position yet, but he’s been told they’d like to hire him and have invited him for an interview that is expected to be a formality.

That sounds to me like the team could be fishing for public support — otherwise why wouldn’t they have simply hired him and not “leaked” the possibility of hiring him. So, if you think Wally Backman deserves a chance to work with the Mets minor leaguers, it may help to sign the petition.

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Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. Taylor October 5, 2009 at 2:09 pm
    I’m reluctant about Wally. He seems like kind of a jerk. A bully maybe. I don’t know him too well but I don’t want a Bobby Knight, Bill Parcells bully type managing the Mets. Besides, I think those type of guys do better in college sports or football.
  2. jpereira October 5, 2009 at 4:24 pm
    Taylor, you should rub your eyes and sob. Let me know if that works.
  3. Mike D. October 5, 2009 at 4:54 pm
    Wally Backman already had his shot to be a major-league manager. Remember this?

    http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1916771

    A history of DUI and financial troubles. That’ll go over big with a New York media that seems out to embarass the Mets at every turn. I’d have no problem with the Mets hiring him for a minor-league job, but he’s got to prove to me that he’s ready for the job.

    If you’re looking for a Billy Martin-like manager, I’d rather have one that matches his baseball mind — Bobby V. — than his penchant for self-destruction.

  4. Taylor October 5, 2009 at 4:59 pm
    jpereira, if it was you, you’d be the one rubbing his eyes and sobbing.
  5. mic October 5, 2009 at 6:11 pm
    Joe; Your mojo is already working. In fact it IS one of the brightest ideas from this staff in forever. What I READ is more complex. It has been said the Mets are considering approaching Joey cora too…do they want JM looking over his shoulder? I could see Wally in Binghamton or Buffalo nururing Reese Havens, Ike Davis Kirk Nieuwen**8, F-mart, Ruben Tejada….

    Then he could come up and join ex-pal HOJO in NY.

    Enuff with the BV luvfest. He was incestantly out coached by Bobby Cox at every oppurtunity. He benefitted from SP/Wilpons prodigious spending. His 1999 campaign featured some great clubhouse leadership (Orel Hershiser) and 2000 from a very deep staff. I would like to see BV as an exec but not a coach.

    as for Executives…I’d like adding JP Ricchardi to the staff. I believe he gets credit for aaaron hill, ex-met Scutaro, vernon wells, and several others in Toronto.

  6. kenny October 5, 2009 at 7:42 pm
    Right move, wrong way. Typical Mets! Bringing in Wally Backman is great. But bringing him in to look over Jerry’s shoulder (as mic said) is wrong, wrong, wrong! That is what they did to Willie Randolph, replacing him with his own bench coach who had been plotting for the job for weeks beforehand. Same goes if they bring in Cora or Acta.

    Same thing with Ricciardi/Towers. All are qualified, but the Wilpons can’t make a decision, so they build an 8-headed monster to diffuse the blame. Wrong, wrong wrong way to go, fellas!

  7. mic October 6, 2009 at 8:23 am
    Any manager will tell you that surrounding yourself with good people will make you look good. I think JP would ADD to Omar not subtract.

    I think Wally is needed in the minors, Not in the big league dugout. Isnt JM a lameduck anyway. If he has a hot start…(something he has publicly postured for) he will be looking for the 3 yr extension.

  8. joejanish October 6, 2009 at 3:09 pm
    Taylor – curious to know how you’ve come to the conclusion that Wally “seems like kind of a jerk”. Please elaborate.

    Also, I agree — I wouldn’t want Bobby Knight, Bill Parcells, or any other coach who might challenge his players to be the best they can be. Much better is the Jerry Manuel style of sitting back and waiting for good things to happen … and if they don’t, just blame it on the GM who didn’t get you the “right” players.

    Mike D. – did you read past the headline of this post? Nowhere did it state “Wally for Mets manager”. In fact it said the opposite — all I want is to see him get a second chance to work in organized baseball.

    But as long as you brought it up, I suppose Tony LaRussa can’t be the Mets manager, either, since he also was convicted of a DUI.