D-Backs, Backman made mistakes

It was late in the day Tuesday when I spoke to Diamondbacks manager Wally Backman.

He was tired. Hurt. Angry, too, that for the "100th time" he was having to answer the same intrusive questions.

"It’s been a long, hard day," he said.

That’s what happens when you’re a public figure and you try to hide embarrassing details of your private life.

If Backman and the Diamondbacks feel like their worl d has crashed in around them, they have no one to blame but themselves.

Backman didn’t come clean during his job interview. Even if he wasn’t asked about skeletons in his closet, he should have informed the Diamondbacks about his DUI arrest and misdemeanor harassment conviction.

He violated the organization’s trust with his silence.

Perhaps Backman believed the details of his arrests wouldn’t be discovered. If so, it’s an incredible act of naivete for a man who played 14 years in the major leagues, including six seasons in the fishbowl that’s New York.

The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, are guilty of stupidity in the first degree. How could Arizona not conduct a background check on its managerial candidates?

General partner Ken Kendrick may be a rookie in terms of running a baseball team, but he’s not a rube. It’s unfathomable he didn’t see the need for a background check — or failed to even consider one.

If this is an indication of how the Diamondbacks do business, let’s pass the collection plate so Jerry Colangelo can buy back the club.

What’s done is done, though, and now the question becomes whether Backman deserves to retain his job.

The gut reaction convicts Backman. He’s been arrested twice and by his omission he lied to the Diamondbacks. There’s also a public relations question for Arizona to consider: Will fans support an organization whose manager, according to police records, threatened to kill his wife?

The coupling of domestic violence and athletes is particularly sensitive here, what with Jason Kidd admitting he slapped his wife and former Diamondbacks pitcher Bobby Chouinard putting a gun to his wife’s head. Backman will be viewed by some as a bad guy who can’t control his drinking or his temper.

But who’s to say a man shouldn’t get a second chance? Backman insists his problems are behind him. He deserves an opportunity to prove he’s a man of his word.

That said, the Diamondbacks should have a zero tolerance policy regarding their new manager. Backman already has two black marks next to his name. If he is involved in another alcoholrelated incident or domestic dispute, he should be fired.

One final thought: It was unsettling Tuesday to read through the police reports of the domestic dispute and then listen to Backman’s side of the story.

The police reports say Backman was "clearly intoxicated." Backman said he wasn’t drinking.

Backman said he drove to his home that night. His son, Wally Jr., was quoted in police reports as saying he drove his father home and stayed in the car because he did not "want to see his dad’s actions." It’s been three years. Perhaps Backman has forgotten what happened. But his denial of seemingly irrefutable facts — "I don’t agree with the police report. The way this has come out is not fair to me in any way" — makes one wonder whether he truly has taken responsibility for his actions. Backman will survive the revelations.

Whether he can get back his good name is entirely up to him.