Sports
Archives

Backman suspended again

• After threatening to quit the team if he was suspended for his latest tirade, Peanuts manager Wally Backman is ordered to sit for three games, but offered no comment on whether he was leaving South Georgia for good.

Paul Dehner Jr.

ALBANY — After hearing from all sides involved, South Coast League CEO Jamie Toole said the league decided to hand down a three-game suspension to South Georgia Peanuts manager Wally Backman after an altercation in the press box on Tuesday against the Anderson Joes.

It was the second three-game suspension in the past three weeks for the former major leaguer. He will begin serving it tonight against Charlotte County.

Toole noted the ruling was not a product of the on-field outburst in which Backman tossed 22 bats and a bucket of balls onto the field after being ejected in the eighth inning.

It stemmed from an incident in the press box in which Backman approached Anderson radio broadcaster Mike Janela, unleashing a line of unprintable words, then did the same to Joes general manager Garrett Ball when Ball attempted to defuse the incident.

“A lot of that is in the heat of the battle type stuff,” Toole said of the on-field tirade. “A lot of that is frustration. You have to have some rules to abide by. As a league, we can’t tolerate off-field issues that get into the press box. It’s unprofessional.”

Backman told The Herald on Tuesday he would “be home in a week,” if he was suspended, but the manager had no comment after the ruling was handed down Wednesday.

As for Toole, he hopes it wouldn’t come to that, but wouldn’t let it affect his decision.

“We can’t allow that to detract how we operate the league,” he said. “We have to set a standard. We can’t have any manager doing that. The suspension is not because he is Wally Backman, it is because of his actions.”

Toole, along with league co-founder Chris Allen, spoke with Backman on the phone Wednesday and felt optimistic about his future within the league.

“I feel good about the conversation,” he said. “Hopefully he will work within the parameters of the league. He is a fantastic manager to have, but he needs to abide by the rules.”

On Tuesday, Backman complained about a number of different elements within the league, but none more adamantly than the umpiring, specifically that the game “is too fast for the umpires.”

This gripe has been consistent with the skipper throughout the season. He echoed identical statements after being thrown out of the June 12 game in Aiken after bumping an umpire several times.

Toole said Backman’s frustrations were duly noted, also mentioning Backman, along with Peanuts right fielder Doc Brooks, who was also tossed Tuesday, were not in the wrong for the on-field argument with umpire Todd Height, stating that “was backed up by the umpire supervisor.”

Back to today's Sports>>