southsider2k5 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball...ticle-1.1110264 Wally Backman fires back at Reggie Jackson for saying Gary Carter doesn't belong in Baseball Hall of Fame Carter died in February after a battle with brain cancer. “To me, it’s a disgrace to the Yankee family with him saying that,” says Backman, who is Mets' Triple-A manager in Buffalo. Comments (7) By Kristie Ackert / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Published: Sunday, July 8, 2012, 10:37 PM Updated: Monday, July 9, 2012, 1:42 PM Buffalo Bisons manager Wally Backman fiercely defends former Met teammate Gary Carter, who was one of a few undeserving Hall of Famers, according to Reggie Jackson's rant. Related Stories SYRACUSE — Wally Backman is livid with Reggie Jackson for what the former Mets second baseman feels is a shot Jackson took at his late former teammate Gary Carter. In a recent Sports Illustrated interview, Jackson said he never saw several players, including Carter, as deserving of the Hall of Fame. “He is going a long ways saying something like that,” Backman, now manager of the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, said Sunday. “Especially with a guy like Gary and his status. It’s not only the player, it’s the person, too. That’s going overboard. “To me, it’s a disgrace to the Yankee family with him saying that.” Carter died in February after a battle with brain cancer. That did not stop Jackson from throwing dirt on Carter’s career. “I didn’t see Kirby Puckett as a Hall of Famer. I didn’t see Gary Carter as a Hall of Famer. I didn’t see Don Sutton as a Hall of Famer. I didn’t see Phil Niekro as a Hall of Famer. As much as I like Jim Rice, I’m not so sure he’s a Hall of Famer,” Jackson was quoted as saying. Backman just shook his head at Jackson’s comments. “I think it’s a disgrace,” Backman said. “It’s off the wall. “I don’t know what he was thinking when you throw guys’ names in there like Kirby Puckett. I played 14 years in the big leagues and Kirby Puckett was the best player I ever played with,” Backman said. “And I played with Barry Bonds, too. “I thought it was bad,” Backman summed up, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Puckett's not a Hall of Famer? 10 times an All-Star, 6 Gold Gloves, 6 Silver Sluggers, 7 times a top 7 MVP finalist, 3 times a top 3 MVP finalist, 2304 hits in 12 seasons (had he been able to stick around for another 4-5, and he really hadn't gotten any worse at the plate, he could have gotten to 3000), and he was the star of one of the greatest games in MLB history. Hell, his career resembles Roberto Clemente's other than coming up at age 24 as opposed to 20 quite a bit. I can say a lot of the same things about Gary Carter too. I really don't like it when players campaign for the Hall of Fame, because it should generally be an unbiased honor to be selected to the Hall of Fame, but he absolutely deserved it too. How is Don Sutton not a Hall of Famer? Leaving wins out of it, he had a good 5 year period as a young pitcher before he hit his prime, threw really, really well for 6 years, and then went on to have another pretty damn good 13 years after that. That's like Ben Sheets, Kerry Wood, and Mark Buehrle all rolled into 1. I'm going to say the same thing about Phil Niekro that I did Don Sutton, except that Niekro stuck around 1 year longer and he was obviously a knuckleballer. I do personally think he's right about Jim Rice - he was a great ball player. He came up, was one of the best hitters in the league for a few years, and then he sort of faded away with only one real good year and a few other solid ones after that. His offensive numbers stack up pretty comparably to guys like Kevin Mitchell, Eric Davis, Darryl Strawberry, and Ellis Burks. If not for the rampant drug use, Davis and Strawberry may have been Hall of Famers, but Burks and Mitchell are definitely not Hall of Famers. They belong in the Hall of Very Good. 1 for 5 with 4 strikeouts for Reggie Jackson. Bet he's heard that one before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskyCaucasian Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 He has banned from anything Yankees In the wake of Yankee Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson’s incendiary comments about Alex Rodriguez in a Sports Illustrated article last week, the Yankees have told Jackson to “stay away” from the Bronx and Yankee players, according to sources familiar with the team. “Reggie is under punishment,” said one of the sources. “He’s upset.” ----- The punishment is not a firing, one of the sources said, but the Bombers felt that Jackson took a below-the-belt shot at Rodriguez when he said that Rodriguez’s admitted performance-enhancing drug use “does cloud” A-Rod’s records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pants Rowland Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Funny. To me, his comments about A-Rod were totally reasonable. It was the opining on the validity of certain hall of famers that stuck in my craw. I was too young to see him in Oakland and NY, but some people might say he became a fairly washed up old man at the tail of his time in NY and in California that was padding his career HR (and stikeout) totals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabiness42 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Funny. To me, his comments about A-Rod were totally reasonable. Totally reasonable if they had come from somebody not employed by the Yankees. You don't get to trash your company in public, not matter how true your statements are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxFan562004 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 01:01 PM) Totally reasonable if they had come from somebody not employed by the Yankees. You don't get to trash your company in public, not matter how true your statements are. yeah unfortunately you're right on this since a lot of MLB media glosses over A-Rod's questionable numbers and when a HOF mentions it the story does fuel honest debate about the weird position MLB will be in as he continues to break records, but instead on who said the comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swingandalongonetoleft Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 the Bombers felt that Jackson took a below-the-belt shot at Rodriguez when he said that Rodriguez’s admitted performance-enhancing drug use “does cloud” A-Rod’s records. It does cast a cloud. That said, if the HOF begins admitting ballplayers not necessarily proven, but suspected of PEDs, then he has to go in. To me, if your name keeps making an appearance in PED discussions, there is usually a very good reason for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balfanman Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 09:28 PM) It does cast a cloud. That said, if the HOF begins admitting ballplayers not necessarily proven, but suspected of PEDs, then he has to go in. To me, if your name keeps making an appearance in PED discussions, there is usually a very good reason for that. I thought that AROID already admitted his use, you know, the standard 1 or 2 times, yeah right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 10, 2012 -> 01:01 PM) Totally reasonable if they had come from somebody not employed by the Yankees. You don't get to trash your company in public, not matter how true your statements are. This is the key here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.