Wally Backman (born September 22, 1959) was an All-State baseball player at Aloha High School. He was selected by the New York Mets in the first round (16th overall) of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft. After batting .293 for the Triple-A Tidewater Tides in 1980, Backman received a September call up to the Mets. He made his major league debut starting at second base against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on September 2, 1980.
After battling for three seasons to earn a starting job, Backman emerged as the Mets' starting second baseman in 1984. He batted .280, and finished second on the club to Mookie Wilson with 32 stolen bases.
He played 14 years in the major leagues, finishing up with the Seattle Mariners in 1993. Wally was the starting second baseman for the 1986 World Series Championship New York Mets. He hit for a .333 average in that exciting World Series in which the Mets beat the Boston Red Sox.
In 1985, Wally’s finest year, he let all national league second basemen in fielding with a .989 percentage. He played in 3 National League championship series, two with the Mets in 1986 and Pittsburgh in 1990. He established career marks of 1,102 games, 893 hits, 482 runs scored, 117 stolen bases and a .275 batting average.
After retiring as a player, Backman managed the Bend Bandits of Bend, Oregon during their final season of operations in the Western Baseball League.
In 2004, he led the Lancaster JetHawks, the Arizona Diamondbacks' High-A team, to an 86–54 record and was named Sporting News "Minor League Manager of the Year". Wally had multiple opportunities to manage in the bigs, first with the D-Backs and later the Mets, but ended up in several minor league roles with the Mets as well as gigs in the Atlantic, South Coast and Northern Leagues as well as the Mexican League. Backman’s coaching career ended in 2023.
Backman has been described as a players' manager. He is noted for his "old school" style, as well as for his frequent use of practical jokes when delivering news of a promotion to the major leagues.