November 2, 200421 yr Already Posted in the SPORTS BAR... Try to keep up This one was posted before the one in the sports bar.
November 2, 200421 yr Somewhere out there Rex is a happy man. I wish Wally well. He was a great minor league manager (probably the best I have ever seen) and a likable guy.
November 3, 200421 yr Way to get off on the right foot Wally! Some people out here in Phoenix are already b****in'! New owners and the first major move they make on their own turns out to be a PR nightmare for them already. Personally...I couldn't give a s*** less about his past...as long as he's a good manager. But I'm surprised none of this didn't come up when he was being considered for the Sox...but then again...maybe it was and was left alone. PHOENIX -- Arizona Diamondbacks manager Wally Backman will keep his new job despite revelations of two arrests and financial problems in his past. "I've made a few mistakes in my life, and I think everybody has," Backman told The Associated Press on Tuesday night. "It's a matter of whether you learn from your mistakes and move on. That's what I'm doing." On his past transgressions, Backman said, "They probably should have asked me about it, and I probably should have brought it up." The Diamondbacks were unaware of his problems until they surfaced in a New York Times story on Tuesday. Backman met with Diamondbacks owners and other management personnel about the issues and was told he still had the job, he said. "It was part of the past that I thought was the past, to tell you the honest truth," Backman said. "They probably should have asked me about it, and I probably should have brought it up." General manager Joe Garagiola Jr. referred questions to managing partner Ken Kendrick, who did not return a telephone message. Kendrick told The Arizona Republic that the Diamondbacks had asked former employers about Backman but did not do a financial or criminal background check. Backman, The Sporting News minor league manager of the year last season, was given a two-year contract to manage the Diamondbacks on Monday. The Arizona Republic reported that the deal has two, one-year club options and that Backman will be paid $500,000 in the first year of the contract. Kendrick cited Backman's fiery attitude as one of the attributes that led to the hiring. Backman acknowledged that he was arrested in 2001 after an altercation with a female family friend at his home in Prineville, Ore. He said he agreed to plead guilty to fourth-degree assault. He was placed on 12 months' probation, ordered to undergo an anger management evaluation and donated $1,000 to the local Boys and Girls Club. Backman was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence in Kennewick, Wash., in 1999, when he was manager of the Tri-City franchise of the independent Western League. He said he fought the charge for two years before pleading guilty. He also has had financial problems, and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last year, The Republic reported. Backman said many of the financial problems, including several tax liens he said he has paid, were caused by dealings of his then-wife that he was unaware of.
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