Strubel: Trust and Loyalty no guarantee

I hate when I confuse Wally Sandberg with Ryne Backman.

Wally Backman trusts his former manager Davey Johnson when he told him he felt “strongly that I’m going to manage (the Mets) someday.” Add to that advice Backman’s loyalty to the Wilpon’s for giving him an opportunity when no other team would and Backman was sold on staying with the Mets organization, hoping these personal qualities will one day pay dividends.

From the outside, Backman’s decision to trust Johnson and remain loyal to Fred and Jeff Wilpon appear more like poor judgment.  Make no mistake, Backman’s will to manage a major league team — specifically, the New York Mets — is honorable, in fact, it stirs a nice, warm fuzzy feeling on the inside, doesn’t it? Wally Backman, a ’86 World Series hero, the man who recently said his heart “never left New York,” is waiting in the wings to save his beloved team from chaos and embarrassment.

“I want to be part of making things better with the Mets,” Backman said in an interview with the Bergen Record. “I want them to be the team they once were and should be today.”

...Will his trust and loyalty payoff for Backman? No telling. With the current state of the Mets, all bets are off. There are no guarantees. No one knows how much longer the Wilpon’s plan to remain majority owners; or how long Alderson will stay at the controls; or whether Collins will last through 2013. Somewhere in there Backman is hopeful opportunity will present itself, the stars will align and he will one day manage the New York Mets …  just not these Mets.