give me a team that can compete

Wait, I thought he was auditioning for the Mets job.

No.

Next question.

Hmm, can he still play 2b?

Assuming Tim Teufel or Ken Oberkfell are interested in the possibly open position, what a slight to them if Wally Backman gets the nod. He's been with the organization less than a year, compared to nearly a decade for those two. And they both managed to keep their noses clean. And Teufel is an '86 Met, for all those demanding someone from that gritty fightin' squad be manager.

I'd prefer the Mets look outside the organization if Manuel gets canned, but if they look within it would be a joke to hire Backman.

Maybe Teufel and Backman can co-manage?

Why all the doom and gloom about the Mets lately? Did they become the Orioles when I wasn't looking?

Yes. They've been shut out 4 times since the all star break and are something like 2-4 when their pitching gives up 3 or fewer runs. It's been pretty horrific.

The Phillies went through the same kind of stretch a month or so ago. No reason to panic.

The Phillies went through the same kind of stretch a month or so ago. No reason to panic.

It is getting ugly. 6.5 behind the Braves, 5.5 out in the wild card, competing against superior teams (CIN/STL, SF, PHI).

If anything could inspire a team to play better ball, I'd hope the prospect that your next manager could be the detestable Wally Backman could do the trick. Mets fans would have my deepest sympathy. I would hate having that little dick manage my favorite team.

It is getting ugly. 6.5 behind the Braves, 5.5 out in the wild card, competing against superior teams (CIN/STL, SF, PHI).

Honestly, I didn't think the Mets were such a hot team this year, so I think a couple of games over .500 isn't a bad job by Manuel.

If anything could inspire a team to play better ball, I'd hope the prospect that your next manager could be the detestable Wally Backman could do the trick. Mets fans would have my deepest sympathy. I would hate having that little dick manage my favorite team.

I've reached the point with managers where personality is entirely irrelevant to me. Having seen one Met manager after another terribly mismanage in-game situations and the bullpen, I care only about tactical ability.

Hire a smart jerk. At least it will be a different approach.

In fact, now that I think about it, I like the idea of a jerkass even more. Unless he's doing something really fantastic, he won't last long, and he'll be cheap. Davey Johnson and Bobby Valentine were the best Met managers in my lifetime, by far, and they'd never win the Miss Congeniality award.

Please, let this happen.

Being a jerk is one thing. Being Wally Backman is a different matter entirely. Obviously sports fans have to be pretty good at holding their noses a lot of the time, but I think I'd have a really hard time pulling for my team if they put this guy in charge. YMDV.

The Mets look like an entirely different team at home than they do at the road. 31-16 at home, 20-33 on the road.

Of course, the obvious suggestion is to manage Teufel against lefties and Backman against righties.

I'd sooner see Dial managing.

I can't see Howard hiring Chris.

I can't see Howard hiring Chris.

Nice!

I would love to see a council of coaches for the Mets made up of prominent Met fan primates.

I would love to see a council of coaches for the Mets made up of prominent Met fan primates.


Chatters would liven up, I bet.

Obviously sports fans have to be pretty good at holding their noses a lot of the time, but I think I'd have a really hard time pulling for my team if they put this guy in charge.

Do most fans really care about the manager's personality? The only time I even notice the manager is when he makes a really smart/moderately dumb baseball decision, or if he does something absolutely outrageous outside of game situations. As an example of how outrageous doesn't mean bad, Valentine had the Groucho disguise incident. It was totally over-the-top behavior, but it was amusing and it didn't really hurt anyone.

What's the worst thing you could imagine Backman doing as manager? I mean, ten years ago he had a fight with someone in his home and eleven years ago he had a DUI. He (or he and his ex-wife) handled his money poorly and he had to declare bankruptcy. This stuff is ancient history.

Is this something you have a problem with? That kind of stuff is amusing to me. It was a pretty terrible ejection of both the player and Backman; Backman didn't do anything at all out of line until after he was run. You could see that he ran out there to protect his player, who was so frustrated that he was putting his arm on the umpire.

What's the worst thing you could imagine Backman doing as manager? I mean, ten years ago he had a fight with someone in his home and eleven years ago he had a DUI. He (or he and his ex-wife) handled his money poorly and he had to declare bankruptcy. This stuff is ancient history.

Your definition of ancient history is very interesting...

Backman's tenure with the Peanuts was brief, but it certainly wasn't without incident. Let's take a look at the highlights:

* Backman had the honor of meriting the first ever SCL suspension on June 12th after he bumped an umpire several times. It was a three-game suspension, and Backman launched the missive that the SCL's umpiring was "a disgrace to professional baseball."
* Backman was suspended for three games for his conduct during and after a June 26th game against the Anderson Joes. Backman was ejected for arguing balls and strikes, and then hurled 22 bats onto the infield grass and emptied a bucket of balls along the third base line. After the game Backman thought it would be prudent to head up to the press box, and air his grievances with Joes announcer Mike Janela, who had referred to Backman's behavior as a "childish outburst." Backman told him where he could stick his microphone (and perhaps some other unprintable words) and also had words for the Joes GM, who tried to break up the melee.
* July 20th's game netted Backman an eight-game suspension. Having already been ejected earlier in the game against the Macon Music, Backman's squad got into a bench-clearing brawl. And after the fight was over, the Peanuts just took off. They forfeited rather than play on. While Backman had been ejected five innings prior to the fight, he still took the suspension nonetheless.
* Two Peanuts players, Joey Hooft and Doc Brooks were suspended on Monday for violation the SCL's drug policy. Two additional players were suspended for diluted samples. Perhaps not coincidentally Brooks was leading his team in HR, RBI, and batting average. He was also the league leader in RBI, and second in batting average. Backman criticized the way the league conducted the test, and challenged the credibility of the league's medical director.

It's like you just skipped the second half of my post, where I said that I didn't mind at all if a manager behaved poorly after being ejected. That doesn't make him a miserable human being. It makes him amusing. It's a lot better than a manager sitting on his duff and not getting passionate about his team getting screwed.

I actually linked one of Backman's ejections. The umpire ejected Brooks for no good reason, and when Backman asked what Brooks had said, the umpire refused to answer him, saying "you'll read my report." When Backman pressed him, in a relatively calm manner (dropped a few f-bombs, but wasn't really losing it), the umpire ejected Backman, who then flipped out completely. Yes, it was juvenile to throw the balls onto the field and say "don't any of you players pick that up."

I believe the umpire was later fined for improperly ejecting Brooks and Backman. And Backman was right. The officiating was a joke.

* Two Peanuts players, Joey Hooft and Doc Brooks were suspended on Monday for violation the SCL's drug policy. Two additional players were suspended for diluted samples. Perhaps not coincidentally Brooks was leading his team in HR, RBI, and batting average. He was also the league leader in RBI, and second in batting average. Backman criticized the way the league conducted the test, and challenged the credibility of the league's medical director.

Is there any chance that the test wasn't conducted properly? It doesn't sound so outrageous when you hear Backman's side of the story:

Wally Backman pulled out a bottle during a press conference Monday afternoon at the Paul Eames Complex. Backman said "This is what they took. It is dietary supplement. It is Niacin."

The problem Wally Backman says is the way the South Coast League conducted its test. Backman says players weren't allowed to tell what type of supplements or medication they had been taking which the reader of the test would take into account when determining the results. Backman also says samples were not sealed in front of the players and that there was nothing random in the selection of players from some teams.

These don't sound like off the wall statements. If Backman is erring on the side of protecting his player, that's a point in his favor, as far as I'm concerned.

Basically, you have a manager that reacts strongly when he feels one of his players has been wronged. I don't see the problem with that. If he goes too far, he'll get suspended and manage via telephone. The Mets would have a smart manager that cares. Not a broken man like Manuel who manages like he has no clue and then has a post-game conference where he embarrasses himself. Not a "great chin" like Art Howe who answers criticism with "we battled" after taking out his best hitter in the 7th inning for a pinch-runner.

The Mets have had terrible, terrible managers who make bad decisions on the field and can't even make up for it by taking the heat for their players. I'm tired of seeing bad bullpen usage, and bad player usage, and poor tactics, followed by dispassionate shoulder shrugging after another loss. I want a guy that hates losing, that carries every loss like a personal insult, and that knows the rules and the strategy better than most of his opponents.

At least it will be interesting if they lose.