New York Mets: Five best second basemen in franchise history
2. Wally Backman
Most Mets fans who watched this man play loved him. The younger crowd will know Wally Backman as the guy who was managing in the minor leagues and trying to work his way up to the big league team. He was dismissed from the organization for many reasons, but many of us will remember Wally as the hard-nosed second baseman on the Mets through most of the 1980s. He played a big role in the 1986 championship team, hitting .320 that year.
Wally was drafted by the Mets in the 1977 draft and made his debut in 1980. He spent the majority of is time at second base, actually playing the most games in franchise history at the position (680). Backman began as a part-time player that year, hitting .323 in 110 plate appearances. He became more of a full-time player in 1984, finally crossing over 100 games, and staying there over the next three years. His fielding around second base grew as he did, going over .980 in 1984 and staying there in 1985.
Here is a highlight of Backman, dragging a bunt single in the ninth inning of game 3 of the 1986 NLCS, to show you the style of play he became beloved for:
See the hard-nosed style? That was the type of player Wally Backman was on a hard-nosed team. Fellow fans that were around to watch the team like I was would agree that the 1980s Mets were teams that didn’t get pushed around. The 1986 Mets had four bench-clearing brawls that season. Backman was the second baseman that played with the perfect style on the perfect team in the perfect city.
He also had a big World Series in 1986, hitting .333.
Backman, despite the falling out with the organization, deserves this spot on the list.