|
|
|
In a post to Brooklyn Met Fan, Adam gives a quick review of Playing for Peanuts, a documentary, television series, which is airing on SNY.
The show is about Wally Backman’s return to managing in the independent league for the South Georgia Peanuts.
In Adam’s opinion, SNY must be showing this in an effort to soften Backman’s image – while trying to 
make him a more viable candidate to replace Willie Randolph.
I doubt this very much, actually. SNY is probably just trying to fill content. I mean, it was on today in the middle of the day, which is hardly prime-time viewing, and I was totally unaware it would be on.
Also, for what it’s worth, I have seen no evidence that Backman will ever be considered as manager of this team, seriously. From what i understand, a) Backman torched his bridge from Shea, and it will not be rebuilt – no matter how badly some Mets fans want to see him return, and, b) from what I understand, most all of MLB sees him as a total loose cannon, who, while entertaining, can be very, very unprofessional in a day and age when team’s have way too much money on the line.
I understand why some fans want to make him an icon, or want to believe his passion is a good thing. However, fact is, there are hundreds and hundreds of professional baseball teams and he has been unable to latch on to any of them. I mean, he quit the only job he could get, which was managing an Independent League team. Add these things together, plus consider this record, and I can’t see him back at Shea.
that’s ridiculous. Backman SHOULD be given a chance. So what he does outrageous antics. So do MANY managers, and if you go to youtube and type in TOMMY LASORDA AUDIO STEW, you’re gonna heae some of the craziest, fiLthiest, soundbites you’re ever gonna hear, yet everyone lovvvvves Tommy. Maybe cuz this day and age, honesty and anger arent PC….
Backman could probably right this ship…while his “antics” may wear thin after a while, for the time being, this is exactly what this team and it’s FAN BASE, which PAY THE SALARIES AND MAKE EVERYONE’S POCKETS FATTER, deserve
ps–the lasorda thing is HILARIOUS though lol…especialy the end where he’s yellin “put that in your paper, TJ!”
Ozzie Guillen
Backman isn’t Tommy Lasorda.
You can’t take a guy managing in the boonies and just hand him a MLB team. After what Backman has done and been thru, at the very least, he needs to work his way up the ranks like Gary Carter, Hojo, and others.
If Willie is fired, Backman, Cater whoever, cannot work under the current circumstances in that clubhouse. The following bears repeating:
From the Daily News last September:
That would be Minaya’s assistant GM, Tony Bernazard who, it would appear, is the real power in the front office. Before being hired by Minaya, Bernazard worked in the Players Association as essentially the union’s liaison with the Latin players. Donald Fehr would hold meetings with the players in spring training, outlining all the elements of the Basic Agreement and then Bernazard would recite it all in Spanish (Carlos Delgado once referred to him as “the highest paid translator on the planet”).
As such, many Latin players throughout baseball hold Bernazard in “second father” regard. I’m also told that all of the Mets’ minor league Latin players have Bernazard’s cell-phone number with the understanding they should call him any time if they encounter problems either off the field or with club officials.
What is unique about Bernazard’s situation with the Mets is that no other assistant GM, let alone GM, spends as much time in the clubhouse - which is supposed to be the manager’s domain - as he does. After Gomez was thrown out stealing third for the final out in the ninth inning against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 21, Bernazard was immediately at the kid’s locker after the game - which could not have been very settling to Randolph. But the fact is, once the Mets fired Randolph’s only hand-picked coach, Rick Down, at the All-Star break, they sent a message to the players that the manager didn’t have the juice they had perceived him to have. At the time, Minaya made a point of saying Down’s replacement on the staff, Rickey Henderson, would be a good influence on Reyes. Right.
Until then, Randolph had attempted to instill discipline in Reyes by employing the “tough love” approach. But when a player knows he can go over the manager’s head to a higher authority with a sympathetic ear, the manager’s message starts to get tuned out. And while Bernazard may insist his open fraternization with Senators manager Manny Acta in Washington was no big deal, what kind of message do you think that was to Randolph’s impressionable young Latin players?
Mets sources have told me that Bernazard pushed hard for Acta to get the manager’s job before Minaya settled on Randolph. I have no doubt that if Acta were not under contract to the Nats the next two years, Minaya would not have had that press conference with Randolph yesterday. The same sources insist that, because Randolph had no previous managerial experience, the Met hierarchy expected he would simply do what he was told and go along with the program. They didn’t want a manager who would exert his will. If they did, they would have hired Jim Leyland.
Yeah, but did Wally Backman ever don a Groucho Marx disguise so as not to be noticed in his own dugout after being ejected?
That was awesome.
one of my favorite bobby v moments
Pretty intersting that of all the on field moments, that this one, that basicly made him and the Mets look like buffoons, is the one most of us remember the most.
It was just so over the top, so unique, so… so Bobby V that it will always stick out, I think.
Kenny Oberkfell. The guy’s been winning and getting overachieving results at every level of our minor league system.
What else does this guy have to do in this organization and for how long to get the Mets managerial job?
Should they fire Willie, I’d go with Ken.
I don’t think they’d go with Ken as a mid-season replacement. Should Willie get the ax mid-season, I think they’d promote Jerry Manuel to interim manager, while promoting Oberkfell to bench coach, possibly. Then in the offseason, I’d think that they’d look at Oberkfell, Manuel, and Manny Acta, but not necessarily in that order.
Either way, its a lot of speculating, but if I could make the ideal choice, I’d go with Keith, even though he seems to have no desire to manage.
Keith has the mind to manage but not the temperment. He can barely keep still to broadcast the games. Did you ever see any Mets games when he wasn’t playing? He was going crazy in the dugout.
I’m for Keith as manager
Not on the Backman topic at all, but did anyone else see that LoHud blog about why us Mets fans hate the Yankees? Because it looks like Lenny Harris was posting in the comments.
The Wilpons are way too ultra conservative to hire Backman. It’ll never happen.
You don’t have to be ultra-conservative to give Backman a pass.
“Backman torched his bridge from Shea, and it will not be rebuilt – no matter how badly some Mets fans want to see him return”
What did Matt mean by that? How did he burn his bridge with the Mets? Does this have to do with his off the field issues and his subsequent and quick termination from the Diamondbacks?
I was wondering the same thing. I know he lost the DBacks job over the drunk driving incident, but did he do something while with the Mets organization that I’m not aware of?
What the he** does “professional” mean anyway? Simply because someone gets paid to do a job, they have to behave in a particular manner to appease the PC-ites? Nonsense. People are way to wrapped up in image and appropriateness these days. Give me a freaking break. You know what’s appropriate and professional? WINNING.
I want someone managing the team with fire, with passion, with the ability to inspire the players to play to their potential, and most importantly, someone who would get results. I’m not sold that Wally Backman is that guy, but I don’t want to hear about unprofessionalism, because that’s a crap argument. If that really held water, Lou Pinella and Tommy Lasorda (not to mention countless others) would never have been [successsful] managers in the big leagues.
Someone else said it. This world has gotten too PC, too corporate, too milquetoast. What did Backman do that was so awful? At the least he warrants a minor league job with a major league organization somewhere.
From the “Oil in Water” piece:
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.
Yeah, that’s what we want.
Uhh, that should be “Lion in Oil.”
And missing in that “Lion in Oil” blog is mentioning the fact that the Albany Peanuts team, if not the whole league itself folded up after one year of existence. It was a Mickey Mouse operation that Wally was dealing with, including very low-level (and probably not very competent) umpires, broadcasters. etc.
I see it wasnt mentioned either that his Peanuts team played their first two games of the season without their manager Mr. Backman. Seems he believed an autograp