Wally Backman is headed to Mexico, and he blames Mets general manager Sandy Alderson.
Backman was fired in September after he ignored Mets brass on day-to-day lineup decisions with the Triple-A team he was managing. The fiery Backman spent the offseason hunting for another minor league job, but with every interview comes a brick wall. He thinks Alderson is responsible.
Backman told NorthJersey.com that Alderson has “blackballed” him around the league. Backman said a friend in the commissioner’s office gave him the information, which he believes has been confirmed by the difficulty he has had in landing another job.
“There’s been a bad roadblock, and I know where it’s coming from,” Backman told the paper. “In the last phone call I had with Sandy [in September], he said, ‘I will do anything I can to help you.’
“But he is not an honest man. People are telling me, ‘Sandy has it in for you. You’re being blackballed.’”
Apparently, the blackball stops south of the border. Backman has agreed to manage a team in Monclova, which is in northern Mexico. Backman said he had tried getting jobs with different MLB organizations at any minor league level.
“I’ve talked to several teams, and every one of them has said, ‘You’re overqualified.’ How can you be overqualified when you’re trying to win? No one is overqualified unless there’s something else going on,” said Backman, a beloved member of 1986 World Series Mets who had been managing the Mets’ Triple-A team for five seasons.
Alderson declined to respond to Backman’s charges to NorthJersey.com. A source in the Mets organization defended him, saying that level of vindictiveness “is not Sandy’s nature.”
Sources told The Post’s Mike Puma in September that Backman was told he was out because he didn’t use Brandon Nimmo in the leadoff spot and kept Michael Conforto on the bench against lefties, defying the organization’s wishes. Backman downplayed those accusations, saying Conforto was given a day off after playing 19 straight days and citing the fact that Nimmo batted in one the top two spots in the order in 84 of 90 games.
“The only thing I can think of is that I have a strong personality and Sandy didn’t want someone like me working for him anymore, even though I’d always treated him with total respect,” Backman said. “But no one was more loyal to this organization than me. No one wanted those kids to succeed more than I did.”
Backman had long been the popular choice for some Mets fans desperate to oust major league skipper Terry Collins. Now Backman must start at square one.
“I would take it in a minute,” Backman said when asked about receiving any offer to manage or coach in America. “What I’m worried about is being out of sight, out of mind. If I go to Mexico, I’ll be out of sight from the people I’m trying to connect with.”