Wally Backman

Birth Date: 09/22/1959

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Wally Backman Bio

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Walter Wayne Backman was born on September 22, 1959 in Hillsboro, Ohio.

The New York Mets used their first round pick on him in 1977, and he made his Major League debut for them in 1980. Backman spent several years as a backup infielder, but finally became the primary starter at second base in 1984. He hit a career best .320 for the Mets in 1986, and New York won the World Series that fall. Blackman scored the game tying run in the sixth inning of game seven against the Boston Red Sox. The Mets won 8-5, despite falling down 3-0 early.

Backman was traded to the Minnesota Twins after the 1988 season. He had hit .283 during his nine seasons in Queens.

His lone season with the Twins got off to a great start. Backman had eight multi-hit games in April, finishing the month with a .298 average. He began May on a 1-for-12 skid, and wound up producing arguably the worst season of his career when it was all over. Backman slashed .231/.306/.284 that year. Multiple trips to the disabled list limited him to just 87 games.

He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a free agent that off-season, and had a bounceback year. Backman hit .292 in 1990, helping Pittsburgh squeeze out a tight NL East race against his old Mets teammates. He played three more seasons after that, but looked more like the Minnesota version of himself.

Backman has been a long time minor league and independent ball coach since his playing days ended. The Arizona Diamondbacks hired him to be their big league manager in 2004, but they fired him just five days later after learning about his failure to disclose some legal issues during the hiring process. He returned to managing in the minor leagues, heading various teams in the Mets minor league system between 2008 and 2016. Backman resigned after the 2016 season, following a public spat with big league general manager Sandy Alderson.

He managed the New Britain Bees of the Atlantic League in 2017, and then managed the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League from 2018 through 2023. Former Twins outfielder Lew Ford replaced him as Ducks manager.

Notable Events & Trivia

1986 World Series champion
2002 Southern League champion (as manager)
- Double-A level
2019 Atlantic League champion (as manager)
- Independent League

Baseball-Reference

Wally Backman Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Wally Backman. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
FanGraphs

Wally Backman - Stats - Batting | FanGraphs Baseball

Wally Backman career batting statistics for Major League, Minor League, and postseason baseball
Sabr.org

Wally Backman – Society for American Baseball Research

Check out stories, photos, and highlights from the 2026 conference.
Baseball Almanac

Wally Backman Stats, Height, Weight, Research & History | Baseball Almanac

Wally Backman stats, height, weight, history, research, and more on Baseball Almanac.
Wikipedia

Wally Backman - Wikipedia

Walter Wayne Backman (born September 22, 1959) is an American former Major League Baseball second baseman. He is best known for his time with the New York Mets from 1980–1988 and was a member of their 1986 World Series-winning team. He was also the former manager for the Las Vegas 51s, the Mets' Triple-A team, from 2013 to 2016. He served as the bench coach for the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican Baseball League in 2017. Backman was the manager of the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball,[1] until October 2, 2023, when it was announced that the Ducks and Backman had parted ways.

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The Twins Almanac: The First Twins Home Opener, Torii Hunter's Steal Streak, & Wally Backman's Hot Start

The Twins Almanac for Sunday, April 21st features John Butcher, Wally Backman, Alexi Casilla, Josh Willingham, Kirby Puckett, Lenny Green, and the first home opener in Minnesota Twins history. And it's the birthday of the man who pitched in more MLB games than anyone.

Lew Ford Continues to Live His Baseball Dream

Minnesota had been home to some other cult heroes before Willians Astudillo started to fill the role. Lew Ford debuted with the Twins as a 26-year old rookie in 2003. From 2004-2006, he averaged 135 games played on two teams that won the AL Central. Chants of “LEEEEWWWWWW” rained down from the Metrodome faithful.

Ford is now 42 but guess what? He’s still playing baseball.

Catching Up With Catcher Dan Rohlfing

Dan Rohlfing was the Twins 14th round draft pick in 2007 out of high school in St. Louis. He played a lot of third base in high school, but the Twins had him mostly playing catcher. Because he is such a good athlete, he played some in the outfield as well. After three years of rookie-league ball, Rohlfing skipped the Midwest League and jumped right to Ft. Myers in 2010. He split the 2011 and 2012 seasons between Ft. Myers and New Britain and finished the 2012 season with some time in the Arizona Fall League. His 2013 was split between New Britain and Rochester, and he spent the 2014 season with the Red Wings.

Though he could have left earlier as a minor league free agent, he signed with the Mets before the 2015 season and spent the summer in Las Vegas (AAA). In 2016, he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks and spent most of the season in AAA Reno.