This week’s prospect time machine puts the spotlight on a former first round pick of the New York Mets, and their current Triple-A manager, Wally Backman. The former second and third baseman is originally from Hillsboro, Oregon, and attended Aloha High School. The Mets selected him straight out of high school with their 16th overall pick in the 1977 draft. Little did they know he would eventually become a fixture in the New York infield for most of the 1980s, and his hard-nosed play would be a crucial part to the Mets winning the 1986 Wold Series.
However, before he won a World Championship, his 14-year big league career began in the minor leagues.
Upon signing, Backman was assigned to join the Little Falls Mets of the New York Penn League for the 1977 season. He immediately made an impression, hitting .325/.393/.451 with six homers, 30 RBIs, 44 runs scored, and 20 stolen bases. The Mets then sent him to the Carolina League with Lynchburg, and he continued to hit. Wally put up a .302/.397/.395 line with three home runs and 38 RBIs. While his slugging percentage took a big hit compared to his first pro season, Backman also accumulated 19 doubles, nine triples, scored 86 runs, and stole 42 bases. Even if he singled, he had the ability to get himself into scoring position.
As a 19-year-old, Backman was once again promoted, this time to Double-A to join Jackson in the Texas League. He had a bit of a down year playing against the next level of competition; he hit .282/.346/.349 with two home runs, 19 RBIs, 63 runs scored, and 23 stolen bases. Despite that, New York promoted Wally the next season, putting him just one level away from the major leagues at the age of 20.
He played with Tidewater in the International League, and played well enough to earn a September call-up toward the end of the 1980 season. He hit .293/.415/.363 with one home run, 51 RBIs, 53 runs scored, and 11 stolen bases. His first at-bat in the big leagues came on September 2nd at Dodger Stadium, collecting an RBI single for a memory he’ll never forget.
He ended up getting 93 at-bats in the big leagues at the end of the 1980 season. Backman did what he normally did: got on base. He hit .325/.396/.355 with nine RBIs and 12 runs scored. It took him until 1984, but Backman earned the starting second base job in Flushing for the start of the season. He put together a solid campaign, hitting .280/.360/.339 with one homer, 26 RBIs, 68 runs scored, and 32 stolen bases.
The 1986 season arrived, and the Mets brought in Tim Teufel via trade to form a platoon with Backman at second base, which worked quite nicely. For Wally, he hit .320/.376/.385 with one homer, 27 RBIs, 67 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases for the eventual World Champions. He also hit .333 in the World Series against the Boston Red Sox, with three walks and four runs scored.
Teuf and Backman were still platooning at second base when the Mets won the NL East by a large margin in 1988, but they fell short in the NLCS, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers. After that disappointment, Backman saw his career with New York come to an end. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins with Mike Santiago, in exchange for minor leaguers Jeff Bumgarner, Steve Gasser, and Toby Nivens. None of them ever made it to Flushing.
Upon leaving the organization that drafted and developed him into the player he was, Backman played parts of five seasons with the Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, and Seattle Mariners before deciding to hang up his spikes. He played in 765 games for the Mets (2,369 at-bats), and owns a triple slash of .283/.353/.344 with seven homers, 165 RBIs, 359 runs scored, and 106 stolen bases.
Backman began his managing career in 2002 with the Birmingham Barons (White Sox AA affiliate), then moved to the Lancaster Jethawks, High-A affiliate of the Diamondbacks, in 2004. Following being named minor league manager of the year, the D-Backs decided to hire Backman as their big league manager. However, just days after he was awarded the job, he was fired because stories surfaced about his numerous personal and financial problems. After hanging around with the Joliet Jackhammers in Indy ball from 2007 to 2009, he became manager of the St. Lucie Mets for the 2010 season, and worked his way up to his current job, manager of the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s.
Rumors of Wally eventually becoming the big league manager of the Mets have circled for years, and it will likely come to a head this winter. Terry Collins is in the last guaranteed year of his contract, and New York must decide which direction they’d like to take the organization.
Whether he becomes the next manager of the Mets or not, he’s given plenty to this organization, both as a player and instructor.