If Backman was never fired by the Arizona Diamondback and ultimately blackballed throughout affiliated baseball, would he have become one of the better managers in baseball or would he have just been a footnote on history.

It’s something no one would ever know, but now the 50 year-old Backman gets a second chance with his appointment by the Mets to helm the Brooklyn Cyclones next season.

“I take full responsibility for the things I did wrong, and I want to go forward,” said Backman, who had a number of problems in the past, including a DUI, domestic disputes, and a bankruptcy. “To start [over] here is good for me.”

Having Backman back with the Mets is a good thing for the organization, since the winning fire is missing. VP of Business David Howard said the team put a “zero-tolerance” clause in their new manager’s contract in order to protect the organization from any further transgressions and possible embarrassment.

That all sounds good and all, but is it really needed? The team did the right thing here by hiring Backman, a man who paid his price and ready to continue his career. But frankly it was long overdue.

This is not an indictment of the Mets, rather one of all affiliated baseball, which is filled with men of low moral character. With so many stars caught for steroid abuse and others – at least in the past – getting off basically scott free for drug abuse and digressions, why was Backman the one to be punished for his problems.

Backman, by his own admission, is a very flawed man, who encountered many off the field problems a decade ago. But does that make himself any different than Alex Rodriguez or Manny Ramirez, who were caught doing steroids? Or even fellow teammates Ron Darling and Darryl Strawberry with their reported problems with the IRS?

The only difference was that Backman was punished for his sins, which is not just unfair, but flat out wrong. Even with his problems, he still proved himself to be one hell of a manager, with a burning desire to win at all costs.

“We took winning and losing personally,” Backman said about the 1986 Mets. “I still do that. That might be why I’m a little bit too high strung at times. I like for the kids to try to take that stuff personal, too. I think it helps them throughout their career. If you can take a loss personal and use the proper energy the way it’s supposed to be used the next day, you end up winning a lot of baseball games.”

And that’s what the Mets hope for the Cyclones, one of their more important affiliates. The club always wants a winning franchise in Coney Island, and Backman pretty much assures that team will be competitive. Yet, this move should have happened a long time ago – again not just by the Mets, but throughout all of baseball.

Backman paid too long of a price for his sins. Now it’s time for him to take the first step on the rest of his career.

The New York Yankees, for all of the drama A-Rod brings into the clubhouse for both his on and off field antics, are a better team with him in the lineup than on the sidelines.  No one knew how the Yankees would respond following an examination of A-Rod’s right hip, which revealed a cyst and a partially torn labrum that would require some kind of surgery to repair it.  After a further examination by Dr. Marc Philippon of Vale, CO it was determined Rodriguez could have a less invasive surgery to clean up the hip in order to play this year and after the season undergo a more thorough procedure to completely restore the hip.

A-Rod underwent surgery on March 9 and was expected to miss approximately 9 to 10 weeks.  That would’ve projected his return to the club around mid-May if everything went according to plan.  In the meantime the Yankees started the season with journeyman Cody Ransom playing the hot corner.  Ransom, although talented with a glove, was not an offensive charge in the lineup.  Ransom’s offense was pretty offensive. Before he went on the disabled list with a torn quadriceps muscle Ransom was hitting .180 with no home runs and 6 RBI in 50 trips to the plate.

Also feeling the effects of a missing Alex Rodriguez has been Mark Teixeira.  Teixeira was brought in during the off season to replace an aging Jason Giambi at first base.  Teixeira signed a huge 8-year deal with New York to provide offense and upgrade the defense Giambi couldn’t provide.

“Tex” had a good spring training, and although he is regarded as a notorious slow starter at the beginning of the year (career .249 BA including 2009) it was hoped that his hot spring would carry over into the regular season.  However, with the absence of A-Rod Teixeira has struggled.  In April, without Rodriguez to protect him, Teixeira saw a lot of breaking balls and pitches off the plate.  Tex ended the month with a .200 average with 3 home runs and 10 RBI.  He struck out 12 times or one strikeout per 5. 83 at bats.

His struggles continued going into May as Teixeira’s average continued to plummet.  By May 12 Teixeira was hitting just .191.  His strikeout total had jumped to 25 in 109 at bats (every 4.36 AB).  Frustrated by his lack of production Teixeira began hearing the boos from fans as he looked completely lost at times in the batter’s box.

However, on May 8, a week before he was projected to return, A-Rod made his first appearance of the 2009 campaign.  Facing the Baltimore Orioles and RHP Jeremy Guthrie Rodriguez made a dramatic statement as he hit the first pitch he saw out of the park to give the Yankees 3-0 lead.  In one swing A-Rod lifted the spirits of the entire team, which had been scuffling from the opening bell.

Prior to May 8 the Yankees were 4.5 games out of first place, standing in 3^rd place behind the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox with a 14-15 record.  They had been embarrassed by the Red Sox losing five straight times both in Boston and New York.  They had a habit of getting behind in games or if leading the game, losing the lead and then losing the game.

Since A-Rod’s return the Yankee clubhouse seems to have refocused and reenergized.  In the past 9 games, with Rodriguez in the lineup, the Bombers have posted a 7-2 record.  They took 2-of-3 from the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, 2-of-3 from the AL East Division leading Blue Jays and after coming from behind again today hold a 3-0 series lead over the visiting Minnesota Twins. The Yankees go for the Sweep on Monday.  More on that series later.

Although, A-Rod has struggled so far with his timing at the plate, because of his inability to perform in live game situations, he has picked his spots to elevate his team.  Besides his spectacular first at bat, first pitch, 3-run home run against the Orioles Rodriguez has chosen other moments to shine as well.

On Saturday night Rodriguez hit a two-run walk-off homer in the 11th inning to record his first hit at the new Yankee Stadium.  The home run also broke a 4-4 tie and stunned the Twins for the second game in a row.  In Sunday’s game against the Twins Rodriguez etched his will on the game again.  Trailing 2-0 to a brilliant pitching performance by Kevin Slowey A-Rod hit a solo shot in the 7^th inning to cut the lead to 2-1.

The big beneficiary in all of this has been Teixeira.  With Rodriguez batting cleanup behind him, Teixeira has been seeing better pitches and has responded.  In the 9 games since his return and proceeding A-Rod in the order Teixeira is hitting .324 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI.  He is still striking out more than the Yankees would like, but overall they have to be very pleased Teixeira has begun to thaw out at the plate.

Getting back to today’s game at the Stadium against the Twins, New York won for their third straight come-from-behind victory is this 4-game series.  All of the wins have come in surprising fashions.  In addition to A-Rod’s heroics Saturday night, hot hitting CF Melky Cabrera added his own brand of excitement.

Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the 9^th with two on, two out and the bases loaded Cabrera strode to the plate to face premier closer Joe Nathan.  Cabrera lifted the ball into the left-center field gap scoring Teixeira and PR Ramiro Peña to secure a 5-4 win.

In Sunday’s game the Yankees faced an outstanding start by Slowey who only surrendered two earned runs in 7.2 innings of work.  The Yankees countered with A.J. Burnett, though struggling at times, kept his team in the game.  Burnett gave up two earned runs in 6.2 innings before giving the ball to the bullpen.

After A-Rod’s solo homer in the 7^th inning DH Hideki Matsui doubled off Slowey and then scored the tying run by advancing on RF Nick Swisher’s sacrifice and Cabrera’s fly out to left field.  Slowey’s day was done and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire turned it over to his bullpen.

The Twins kept the game even until the bottom of the 10^th inning when LF Johnny Damon turned on a fastball from RHRP Jesse Crain and sent into the right field second deck to give the Yankees their third come-from-behind victory.  It was Damon’s third career walk off bomb, but his first with the Yankees.  The three consecutive come-from-behind wins hadn’t been accomplished since August 27-29, 1972 the season before principal owner George Steinbrenner purchased the club.

The win also was the Yankees 5^th straight victory, which is the longest string of wins this season.

After the game, YES Network’s Kimberly Jones caught up with Damon outside the Yankees dugout.  Just before going on camera Damon was given a cream pie in the face by Burnett.  Jones asked Damon what all of the recent drama meant to him and the team.

“This is great.  Three straight walk offs, you know it’s pretty exciting for us,” Damon said.  “Hopefully, this means we’re going to start playing better.  Things feel real good right now.”

It’s also pretty exciting for Yankee fans as well and you can bet they’re feeling real good right now too.

Notes: This was the 11^th anniversary of David Wells perfect game against the Minnesota Twins who lost to the Yankees 4-0.

The list reads like an All-Star squad for the era. Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Raphael Palmiero, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez and the latest, Manny Ramirez.

The Dodger leftfielder had a 50-game suspension handed down on Thursday, perfect timing for the subject of performance-enhancing drugs to be drummed up again with A-Rod making his regular season debut the next day.

It’s not as if Rodriguez was going to fly under the radar, anyway, but the topic will reach new heights over the weekend. He can deflect all the questions that he wants and say that he is only going to talk about baseball, but the media frenzy that is sure to follow him around for the rest of the season and possibly longer is not going to let up.

Some may feel that with Ramirez being suspended some of the negative attention surely awaiting Rodriguez tonight at Camden Yards in Baltimore will be offset and directed towards the Washington Heights native. While that may be somewhat true, A-Rod should not get too cozy.

It is true that Rodriguez has not been penalized and his steroid admissions, no matter how inaccurate they may seem, should be viewed as an attempt to gain some sort of compassion  and forgiveness. In Ramirez’s case, the only information we have to go by is what has been the short statement he released and what was reported by Major League Baseball.

“Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue,” Ramirez said in the statement. “He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing: I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.”

What Ramirez was actually suspended for was human chorionic gonatropin, more commonly known as hCG. Without further information or the ingredients of the prescription Ramirez’s doctor gave him, we can only speculate why he would be ingesting it. Known as one of the more potent concoctions used as Post Cycle therapy. hCG is popular amongst steroid users following a period, or cycle, to help maintain the effects of the substances and kick-start the natural production of testosterone after ingesting the synthetic version.

What triggered all of this was Ramirez having one of his Spring Training tests come back with a high testosterone level. All of that would seem to add up and point to Ramirez using performance-enhancing drugs to the point of including PCT, something a beginner does not normally have the knowledge of doing.

It will be hard for Ramirez to lean on the “amateur hour” excuse that Rodriguez used during his admission press conference while explaining how he and his then-unnamed cousin were taking steroids.

But frankly, the Wilpon and Met losses to the Wall Street  swindler have nothing to do with the no thanks to Manny. This has more to do with avoiding a potential problem they would have to pay a king’s ransom.

The Mets and Omar Minaya should look elsewhere for an outfielder. (Joe McDonald/NYSD)

Remember back in the 1980s and even the early 1990s, it was Fred Wilpon who forced the purge of less desirable players from the club. After the 1986 World Series win, potential trouble maker Kevin Mitchell was shipped to San Diego for the pure vanilla Kevin McReynolds. A few years later the known partiers like Lenny Dykstra, Wally Backman, and even Darryl Strawberry were shown the door.

It didn’t end there. After embarrassing the organization in the firecracker incident in 1993, Vince Coleman was released. Bret Saberhagen, who sprayed reporters with bleach left in 1994, and Bobby Bonilla never did show anyone the Bronx when he was traded in 1995.

This is the Wilpon way. Unlike the Yankees, who value winning above anything, the Mets would rather have a good team with no problems. Of course they still come up, but who can blame the owners for wanting to avoid Ramirez and all his red flags.

Frankly, if the Mets wanted Manny, he would already be on the club. The Red Sox put him on waivers after the 2003 season could have been acquired for a claim. The Mets passed. They looked to acquire Ramirez  in 2006, but didn’t pull the trigger, and even last summer passed when the future Hall of Famer went to the Dodgers for a song.

To get Manny means you get all the baggage that comes with him. The laundry list is long, but includes having altercations with teammates, sitting out games claiming to be sick, but was seen out in a bar afterwards, and physically assaulting the Sox travelling secretary. He is known to be moody, mails in parts of the season, and can’t be controlled.

Complicating matters is his performance for the Dodgers. When playing for a contract, Ramirez was the best player in baseball. His play over the last two months of the season proved loafed his way out of Boston.  The Mets already have Carlos Delgado, who conveniently got his swing back after Willie Randolph was fired. Sure he’s back, but remember, the Mets are paying him a net of $8 million this season.

So the Mets already have one star like Ramirez already, but now fans want the outfielder in his hometown, where all the distractions of being home will be around him all season. Darryl Strawberry said his biggest mistake was going home to Los Angeles, because his so-called friends came out of the woodwork. Manny will face the same problem.

Then there’s the money problem. Even with Spring Training coming up next week, the Mets won’t be able to sign the outfielder on the cheap. He just turned down the Dodgers offer of one-year for $25 million, so to get this done would mean at least guaranteeing $50 million, plus an option. Think three-years and about $70 million and you would probably be in the ballpark. Even without Madoff, the Wilpons wanted to keep the team salary to around the $143 million of last season. Ramirez will blow it out of the water.

Of course the Madoff situation hurts. No one wants to lose money like that, but the Wilpons are good business men. They didn’t go into sell mode after this happened, so you would have to believe the team is stable. The worst case scenario would be that the Wilpons would have to bring in a minority owner or two, but that shouldn’t affect the day to day operations.

The Wilpons aren’t villains here. Every other team in baseball passed on Manny so far, as well. There’s a reason for that and it won’t be the end of the world if Ramirez ends up on another team. The real criminal is Madoff. You have to wonder why this man isn’t in jail. He has ruined lives, and ones far worse off than the Wilpons. For him to be allowed to be holed up in his Manhattan penthouse, rather than a Rikers Island jail cell is the hard question that really needs to be answered. The Mets turning down Manny was an easy decision.

Perez will take his high wire act to Citi Field (Bill Menzel/NYSD)

One year and one day ago the Mets announced the trade and signing of Johan Santana, giving them a legit ace for the first time and a long time.

This year, the team inked the other lefty in the rotation as the Mets signed Oliver Perez for three-years, $36 million.

Much like Santana, general manager Omar Minaya was willing to play the waiting game, especially after seeing an ice cold free agent market. Instead of bidding against themselves – a classic Scott Boras tactic – Minaya stood fast until Perez was willing to take the Mets offer.

Of course, that didn’t stop the Mets from looking at other options like Derek Lowe, who proved to be too expensive, and Randy Wolf, Ben Sheets, and Jon Garland, if Perez went elsewhere.

Although some in the Mets organization preferred Lowe, Minaya’s first choice was the 27 year-old lefty who went 10-7 with a 4.22 ERA last season.

He now joins a staff with Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, and either newly signed Tim Redding, rehabbing free agent Freddy Garcia, or rookie Jon Niese.  Former ace, Pedro Martinez seems to now be off the radar.

The move also means the Mets may not be able to afford signing a high ticket outfielder like Manny Ramirez or Bobby Abreu, both of whom would have been on the radar if the Mets couldn’t re-up Perez.