Wally Backman's YouTube Clip May Cost Him Job as New York Mets' Manager

Has New York Mets management seen the YouTube video of Wally Backman's tirade while managing the South Georgia Peanuts? If owner Jeff Wilpon and new General Manager Sandy Alderson haven't yet, they will soon.

Despite reports that the Mets are giving Backman a second interview for their managerial opening, it seems difficult to fathom that the former second baseman and fan favorite would ever be entrusted with a $140 million payroll.

In November of 2004, Backman was hired as the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Only a few days later, however, it was revealed that Backman had a sordid past that included a DUI and a domestic assault arrest. He was fired shortly thereafter.

Looking to rebuild his baseball career, Backman accepted an offer to manage the South Georgia Peanuts, an independent professional baseball team in the South coast League; they are unaffiliated with Major League Baseball. On the surface, it seemed a smart thing to do, given that he was hardly doing it for the money or glamour. During the 2007 season, however, Backman ran onto the field to protect one of his players who was ejected for arguing a strike call. It happened to occur at a time when a film crew had a microphone on Backman as it taped footage for a documentary entitled "Playing for Peanuts".

The clip is now available on YouTube and is less than flattering to Backman, to say the least. Backman runs onto the field, immediately swearing, and gets personal with the umpires; calling one a 'pipsqueak' and questioning his professionalism. Backman is asked repeatedly to leave the field. When he finally does, he goes into the dugout and throws bats and dumps balls onto the field before finally leaving. He repeatedly screams at the umpires and calls them 'pieces of sh_t'.

After leaving the field, Backman was told by somebody that the radio announcer had said that he was an 'embarrassment to baseball' for his behavior. Backman then stormed into the radio booth and demanded to see the announcer.

As a reminder, this all occurred while Backman was managing at the lowest of the lowest level in the professional baseball. Mostly all of his players, if not all, will never make the Major Leagues. The stadium itself appeared to be almost empty, and as a result, his screaming and profanities were clearly heard, according to a number of interviews with fans afterwards.

While arguing with umpires has always been, and always will be, a part of baseball, Backman's actions on this tape on YouTube would likely prove to be nothing short of embarrassing to the New York Mets.

He is a former Major League player who demonstrated a complete inability to control himself in an independent league game. One can only wonder how he would react to the pressure cooker that is managing in New York City, with one of the most highly visible franchises in the sport in the New York Mets.

While he did manage the Mets' Single A Brooklyn Cyclones this season without apparent incident, the fact that Backman, who knew he was being watched to see if his past off the field issues were truly behind him, could not act professionally in a low level game (while knowingly being taped no less), will prove to be evidence enough that he is not the right choice to be the next manager of the New York Mets.

The YouTube clip will eventually be the final dagger for Wally Backman's hopes to manage the Mets.

Sources:

PlayingForPeanuts, "Wally Backman Ejected in Anderson, SC", youtube.com
PlayingForPeanuts, "Fan Reaction to Wally Backman's Ejection", youtube.com
PlayingForPeanuts, "Wally Backman Heads to the Press Box Following Ejection", youtube.com
Craig Calcaterra, "The Mets are giving Wally Backman a second chance for some reason", nbcsports.com