[picappgallerysingle id=”10085921″]Well it looks like the next Mets’ manager will not be Clint Hurdle, who was snagged by the Pittsburgh Pirates. So the finalists that new Mets’ general manager Sandy Alderson are giving a second look to are Bob Melvin, Wally Backman, Chip Hale and Terry Collins.
We decided to look at each candidate’s no-hitter credentials. No one shines, but we give Backman the advantage.
Backman has never led a Major League club, spending his time since 2001 managing minor-league ballclubs in Winston-Salem, Birmingham, Lancaster, Joliet and Brooklyn. He was hired to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2004-2005 offseason but was fired four days later after it was learned that he had twice been arrested twice and had been dealing with financial problems.
Backman, however, did play second base during a game on the winning side of a no-hitter, going 1-for-4 from the leadoff spot for the Philadelphia Phillies on May 23, 1991 as Tommy Greene no-hit the Montreal Expos during a 2-0 win at Olympic Stadium.
Collins managed for six years – three with the Houston Astros and three with the Anaheim Angels, but none of his teams ever hurled a no-no. He was on the receiving end of one though, when the Minnesota Twins’ Eric Milton no-hit the Angels on Sept. 11, 1999 during a 7-0 win.
Melvin managed for seven years – two with the Seattle Mariners and five with the Arizona Diamondbacks – but also. He was at the D’Backs help when Anibal Sanchez no-hit the club during a Sept. 6, 2006 match between the Marlins and Arizona. Florida won 2-0. Sanchez in that game actually broke the longest no-hitter drought in Major League baseball history in terms of number of games played, with the games between Randy Johnson’s 2004 perfect game and Sanchez’s 2006 no-no reaching 6,364.
Hale was a member of the Minnesota Twins in 1994, but he was not in the lineup when Scott Erickson blanked the Milwaukee Brewers 6-0 on April 27, 1994 without allowing a single hit.
I guess Nolan Ryan isn’t looking for a job. Sigh.
