Profiles of Billy Wagner, Wally Backman and Chad Bradford

I had a good time away for a couple of days helping my aunt celebrate her 70th birthday. That nice time helps me cope with the loss of Danys Baez to the Dodgers. Okay, so maybe I'm not that upset, anyway...

Daily News: Nice Billy Wagner Feature
Wayne Coffey looks at the "long road" Billy Wagner has taken from Tannersville, Virginia to the Big Apple:

You leave the town of Tazewell and turn left at Frog Level, and pass through Thompson Valley, not far from Criggers and Pucketts Store. You climb up mountains, and switchback your way down the backside. You ride by a field with scores of brightly colored barrels, each with a rooster on top, a cock-fighting breeding camp. You go alongside a meandering creek, and see red dirt and grazing cows in sloping valleys.

Seventeen miles beyond Frog Level, you finally get to Tannersville, a hamlet of 392 people and six roads, a dozen miles from the nearest supermarket. Ten people come into the post office, and that's on a busy day, says Evelyn Barton, the postmaster. A faded wooden sign by the volunteer fire house welcomes you to "The Home of Billy Wagner." In Tazewell, where Wagner starred in football and baseball for Tazewell High, a fancier sign also claims the town as his home.

We've seen other features that have described the life obstacles Wagner has overcome to get to where he is now, but this is quite detailed and very good.

Bergen Record: Wally Backman Can't Catch a Break
Bob Klapisch reports on Wally Backman's sad saga since Arizona stuck it to him in 2004. The lastest is that, after being considered for the Binghamton job, Backman has been told by Omar Minaya that it "wasn't a good fit." Kiss off, Wally.

If you're not familiar with the story, Klapisch fills us in on Backman's troubles since the Arizona Diamonbacks backpedaled away from a verbal agreement that he would be their manager upon learning some disturbing news from Wally's past:

Turned out that Backman had been arrested for drunken driving in 2000, pleaded guilty to a harassment charge involving a female friend of the family and was tarnished by allegations of spousal abuse made by his ex-wife.

In a matter of four days, Backman's career in Arizona was over. The D-Backs were embarrassed for their failure to conduct a thorough background check, and were determined to wash their hands of the matter -- even as Backman accepted responsibility for the DUI and pointed out that a restraining order filed by his wife against him eventually was dismissed.

Since then Backman continually has apologized, but that has yet to impress the baseball community.

Backman, who was twice picked by Baseball America as their best managerial prospect, can't get a job, and he doesn't understand why:

I'm stumped why I can't get a job, even on the minor league level. It's not like I robbed a bank or did drugs. The whole thing boils down to a lousy divorce and a DUI. I've paid for that mistake. The president of the United States has a DUI on his record and he's still president. I made a mistake and learned from it. I've grown up.

...What I don't understand is how the Mets were willing to interview me for a job on the major league level, and now they won't consider me for the minor leagues. It's not even like I'm asking them to take a risk. I've proven myself on the minor league level. I know how to manage kids. My track record proves that.

Then again, with the stunning success the Mets minor league system has been over the years, maybe they just don't need any help.

New York Times: Chad Bradford
Ben Shpigel profiles new Met reliever Chad Bradford, and how he developed his exaggerated delivery.

MetsDaily.com: Wahington Nationals Preview
In the latest in MetsDaily.com's series of National League previews, Russlan Abouhassan profiles the Nats.