Jackhammers hire Backman
December 12, 2007 by Jason Guarente
The Joliet Jackhammers of the Northern League have named Wally Backman their new manager. Backman was the first person to interview for the Barnstormers’ vacancy in October. He was passed over in favor of Von Hayes.
Three years after being fired by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the doors to the affiliated world remain closed to Backman. This looks a like a great move for the Jackhammers. Backman is a proven winner and he’ll succeed there. It would have been interesting to see how Backman fared in the Atlantic League, but no one in this league was ready to give him a chance. He also interviewed with the Newark Bears prior to the 2007 season.
“We are thrilled to have Wally onboard with us,” general manager Kelly Sufka said in a canned statement in this press release. “He’s certainly a name people will be familiar with, and he is extremely determined to bring a winner to Joliet.”
In a mildly interesting twist, Backman replaces Hal Lanier, who was briefly linked to the Barnstormers but was never formally interviewed.
*In other news, ALB.com is reporting that Bridgeport’s Jesse Hoorelbeke has signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim near Burbank which is part of the San Fernando Valley. Hoorelbeke put up monster numbers last season, so it’s nice to see him get a chance.
Good for Wally! Any news on JT? Did he get the Millersville job?
I don’t believe Millersville has hired a permanent baseball coach. Last I saw Jon Shehan had the job on an interim basis. In other local baseball news, McCaskey grad John Parrish was non-tendered by the Mariners, so he’s a free agent.
Speaking of the Bears, what do you figure the over/under is on guys with ALPB ties on the Mitchell list?
That’s a shame that it didn’t work out for Jeff Swarr at Millersville. They’ve lost a great baseball coach.
Well Jason was right. Clemens made the roid list.
I’ll say this before the names come out: I’m not a big believer in any “impartial” investigation headed by someone who is on the board of directors of one of the teams. It reeks of a conflict of interest and casts doubt on the names mentioned.
Sounds like someone is prepping themselves in case Pujols’s name pops up. Just because he works with the Red Sox, doesn’t mean it’s all evil.
I’m not worried about Pujols. I’m just pointing out it’s not impartial, which was supposed to be the whole point.
I actually read a lot of the report. Pujols was not in the report. I must say, there is a lot of convincing evidence on some of these big name players. Photocopies of checks made out, bogus prescriptions and a lot of eye witness reports. Clemens probably has some of the most damming evidence against him.
Clemens got crushed. That was really the only bombshell in this whole thing that I’ve seen so far. An impartial investigation might have outed some new names. This was a dog and pony show.
Pettitte used HGH to rehab. I really don’t have a problem with a player taking that route.
Can you imagine if Clemens never gets into the Hall of Fame now!! Holy $#*^!
Please…. the rumors about him have persisted forever. It goes back years to his ‘forced’ retirement.
We’ve all heard the rumors but nothing to this extent. Up until now I would of never said he won’t get into the HOF. Now it looks like he might be paddling up $h*ts creek.
i’m a Sox fan through and through. And even though Roger has spurned me many times and appearsasif he doesn’t give a darn about his Boston years, I’ll still like him no matter what happens (i was young and impressionable when he pitched for Boston - so sue me
)
Clemens deserves the hall of fame
A couple of notes …
Gary Carter will manage the Orange County Flyers of the Golden League.
Southern Maryland’s expansion draft will be Jan. 15 — not mid-December as I was initially told. Teams will submit their protected list on Jan. 8.
I agree Scottie, Clemens deserves to be in the Hall of Fame no doubt, regardless if he ended up doing the juice when he got older. But it will get hairy if they start letting in some players who have done roids and then at the same time exclude players just because they have done roids, which is already happening. There is nothing stopping Bud Selig from banning all these guys from going in the HOF either. They did it to Rose and there was nothing Rose could do about it. In Rose’s case it was all allegations too. We all knew he denied it forever. Some are saying that Selig might actually take this route as a partial way to penalize these guys. Man, to have the guy who has the most hits, the guy who has the most HR’s and the guy with the most strike outs in a single game, 300+ wins and 7 Cy Young awards, to have them all not in the HOF, just seems more than tragic.
Unless there is physical evidence their names should not be withheld from HOF nomination. You can’t prosecute someone on hearsay… Maybe Clemens didn’t sign an autograph for that person, so now this bat boy/man is getting even.
It’s just not fair.
Well it looks like McGuire wont get in because of his possible use of steroids. He has not, nor will he be prosecuted. It’s a bunch of old stubborn geezers who vote people in. I’m guessing they will keep the same “no steroid” policy. They have there own way of putting people on trial. At least thats the way I think it works.
I think Bonds and Clemens will both get elected. It’s going to be at least five years until their first vote and a lot of this will be a distant memory. McGwire was hurt by the fact the congressional hearings were so close to his first time on the ballot. It was fresh in everyone’s minds. It’ll be interesting to see what percentage of the vote he gets this time. If it’s in the 40s, I’d say he’ll eventually get in as well.
The whole “I never failed a test” argument doesn’t work for me. The players union has fought testing every step of the way. It won’t allow blood testing for HGH and won’t submit to Olympic-style steroid testing. So the reason players haven’t failed is because the system is flawed. You can’t block real testing and then hide behind the results. Sorry.
Clemens and Bonds are really pathetic figures. They were already great. They were already wealthy beyond anyone’s dreams. But they cheated out of vanity. Their egos wanted more adulation and a greater standing in the history of the game. I can sympathize with the cheater who is trying to hang on to a roster spot or to get one payday. I can’t sympathize with guys who have a lot, but cheat so they can have more.
I like your point of view on Clemens and Bonds. It really points out their gluttony. I just find it so interesting that they can cheat and not feel bad breaking honest records. They know they’re cheating too because they deny using. That is a sign of a true A-hole.
If you actually read the whole report on Clemens, which is about 3 pages long, there should be no doubt that he used.
And I’m pissed Clemens he used. I always admired him. Thinking back now to games when he was all pumped up throwing at peoples heads, breathing like a mad bull, you can easily see how there might of been a little roid rage working his system. He wasn’t always that intense on the mound. He was always good, but not as pissed looking like he was as he got older. Look at some of the other older guys. You don’t see them throwing bats at runners.
Hey, everyone has their crutch. You can’t expect theseguyz to be perfect people.
….. Remember the show Perfect Strangers? Now that I think of it, I bet Balki was a terrorist.
Texas Rangers team officials today announced the signing of 2007 Long Island Ducks infielder Edgardo Alfonzo.
Apparently, the Rangers were impressed by Alfonzo’s .365 slugging percentage last season.
Jason,
There is a story in the York Daily Record on-line about the Revolution following the lead of the Patriots and the Bears concerning staying home for Spring Training in 2009. Is this something that the Barnstormers would consider?
Here is the link: http://ydr.inyork.com/ydr/sports/ci_7750490
The story has a picture of Travis with is luggage. How ironic.
I imagine all of the ODP teams will do the same thing. That way the teams could make bus trips to each city and play against each other as preparation for the season — if they choose not to go to Florida.