Mike Silva provides a thought provoking piece this morning advocating the return of Wally Backman to the organization. I don’t know much about what’s happened to Wally since he left the Mets other than what I read in news reports, and I wouldn’t feel right in commenting on it at any rate. Yet Backman is an intriguing individual that has demonstrated he knows about winning. His comments to Silva indicate to me that he has evolved even more into someone with a desire to see a big picture. Backman would be a good guy to send around right now on behalf of the Mets.

He was about winning as a player. About team first. He took to the Mets’ acquisition of Tim Teufel to platoon with him at second base before the 1986 season. Backman knew Teufel could hit after playing against him in 1983 while in AAA. My memories of Backman involve how tough he was. We used to wrap up both hamstrings so he could play.

The Mets embraced their past by bringing back Bobby Ojeda, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez to be part of their broadcast team. Mets fans have a unique romantic attachment to its past that few teams enjoy. Heaven knows now would be a great time for the Wilpons to make some sort of gesture that would please fans. Maybe not Wally, but maybe someone like him who has an emotional investment in how well Mets play. Embrace your past again.

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