Wally Backman always thought he was the next Mets manager in waiting, and apparently Terry Collins did, too.
“I was very close to Terry Collins. I thought we worked well together. I thought I was the guy in waiting,” Backman said Tuesday on WFAN’s “Joe and Evan” show. “And it basically didn’t happen. Like I said, Sandy [Alderson] and I, for some reason, have never seen eye to eye, and I really don’t know why. … I knew Terry was coming to the end of his contract and I believe Terry wanted me to be the guy as well.