OK Mets fans…it will be really easy to sit here at the end of the 2014 season and play “I told you so.”
Today I am asking you a very simple question.
Do you want Wally Backman to be the next manager of the Mets?
Decide right now, much like ownership will have to. If Wally gets hired and wins it will be really easy to root for this guy…and if not, it will be really easy to complain that they should have hired Bobby Valentine.
Decide now. There’s a poll up on the main page.
I want Wally. September 3, 2010 I declare I want Wally. Bookmark the post and rub it in my face if they finish 30 back.
First the bad (via ESPN):
Backman was arrested in 2001 after a fight at his home involving his wife and one of her friends in Prineville, Ore. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment and was sentenced to 12 months’ probation, ordered to undergo an anger management evaluation and donate $1,000 to the local Boys and Girls Club.
He was arrested, and later convicted, on a driving under the influence charge in Kennewick, Wash., in 2000…… Backman has also had financial problems, filing for bankruptcy several years ago.
We know Backman is fiery. The entire organization could use a kick in the pants. Maybe yelling at people and kicking dirt doesn’t actually win games but it sure would tickle my brain.
He’s a connection to 1986. He has a ring. There’s an awful lot of Mets current and alumni without a championship. Talk to the hand, it has a ring on it.
He’s been in Brooklyn all year. For what I can tell he has kept out of trouble.
He will be a media lightning-rod. Don’t underestimate that part of the equation. If the Mets throw “Bob Melvin” in there, all eyes are upstairs. If they throw Wally out there all eyes are on the field and unless he hands in a 57 win season 2011 is a free pass. Imagine if “Bob Melvin” goes 70-92 how the fans would react.
This is like the scene late in the Battlestar Galactica series. Adama drew a line down the middle of the hangar deck and asked everyone to take a stand.
If you want Wally join me over here on this side. So say we all.
