The rain stopped. The tarp was removed. Fans walked through the Bethpage Ballpark turnstiles, gleefully accepting the Wally Backman bobbleheads being offered.
The longtime Mets second baseman would manage his first home game with the Long Island Ducks — an uncertainty even after Backman signed a three-year deal to return to New York.
While attending December’s winter meetings in Las Vegas, and speaking with Mets special assistant to the general manager Terry Collins and new farm director Jared Banner, among others, Backman believed a seemingly unlikely reunion with the organization was near.
“I talked with everyone that was there from the Mets, and I actually felt that they wanted me back,” Backman said.