Wally Backman

HandednessBats Switch · Throws Right

Listed at5 ft 9 in · 160 lb

BornSeptember 22, 1959 · Hillsboro, OR, USA

MLB debutSeptember 2, 1980

Final gameMay 14, 1993

Seasons14 (1980–1993)

New York Mets 1980–1988; Minnesota Twins 1989; Pittsburgh Pirates 1990; Philadelphia Phillies 1991–1992; Seattle Mariners 1993

Percentile snapshot

1985 season — qualified batters

145

35.3

574

33.8

520

37.5

62.5

142

48.5

31.6

68.4

RBI

6.6

18.4

55.9

8.1

.273

51.5

OBP

.320

32.4

SLG

.344

13.2

OPS

.664

14.7

wRC+

90.9

OPS+

89.4

20.6

wOBA

.310

19.1

sWAR

1.5

28.7

of 137 qualified 1985 batters (min 502 PA)

Career, era-adjusted

wRC+

100.0

41.7

OPS+

95.4

31.9

sWAR

14.3

90.6

wRC+ measured against qualified careers (3,000+ PA), 2,078 of them; OPS+ measured against qualified careers (3,000+ PA), 2,078 of them; sWAR measured against every career in history, 24,011 of them. Only era-adjusted career stats carry a percentile — a raw career total gets a rank instead, because pooling the 1890s with the 2020s is a choice, not a measurement.

Season by season

Batting

Season	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	wRC+	OPS+	wOBA	sWAR
1980	27	110	93	12	30	1	1	0	9	11	14	2	3	.323	.396	.355	.751	121.1	114.2	.356	0.7
1981	26	42	36	5	10	2	0	0	0	4	7	1	0	.278	.350	.333	.683	102.9	96.1	.331	0.2
1982	96	312	261	37	71	13	2	3	22	49	47	8	7	.272	.387	.372	.759	124.9	114.2	.365	2.2
1983	26	45	42	6	7	0	1	0	3	2	8	0	0	.167	.205	.214	.419	10.4	16.9	.200	-0.3
1984	128	499	436	68	122	19	2	1	26	56	63	32	9	.280	.360	.339	.700	106.3	100.1	.335	2.3
1985	145	574	520	77	142	24	5	1	38	36	72	30	12	.273	.320	.344	.664	90.9	89.4	.310	1.5
1986	124	440	387	67	124	18	2	1	27	36	32	13	7	.320	.376	.385	.761	119.8	114.9	.355	2.7
1987	94	335	300	43	75	6	1	1	23	25	43	11	3	.250	.307	.287	.593	66.4	63.4	.280	-0.2
1988	99	347	294	44	89	12	0	0	17	41	49	9	5	.303	.388	.344	.731	126.9	117.8	.351	2.4
1989	87	337	299	33	69	9	2	1	26	32	45	1	1	.231	.306	.284	.591	66.2	63.7	.285	-0.1
1990	104	361	315	62	92	21	3	2	28	42	53	6	3	.292	.374	.397	.771	122.8	116.8	.359	2.4
1991	94	220	185	20	45	12	0	0	15	30	30	3	2	.243	.344	.308	.652	93.2	85.9	.315	0.7
1992	42	55	48	6	13	1	0	0	6	6	9	1	0	.271	.352	.292	.644	85.8	84.2	.306	0.1
1993	10	31	29	2	4	0	0	0	0	1	8	0	0	.138	.167	.138	.305	-25.2	-17.0	.147	-0.3

Career totals

1,102

3,708

3,245

482

893

138

RBI

240

371

480

117

.2752

OBP

.3486

SLG

.3387

OPS

.6873

A total is called out only where it ranks in the all-time top 500; hover a figure for its rank and the size of the field it was ranked in. Ranks are absolute facts and carry no percentile — the population for "career home runs" would be an editorial choice, and the rank is not.

Best games

Batting

Date	Game	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	TB
1990-04-27	PIT @ SD Gameday	6	1	6	1	0	2	0	7
1990-05-18	PIT @ ATL Gameday	5	2	4	0	1	2	1	7
1985-04-26	PIT @ NYM Gameday	5	1	5	1	0	3	0	6
1986-05-04	NYM @ CIN Gameday	5	2	4	2	0	1	0	6
1984-07-20	NYM @ CIN Gameday	5	1	3	3	0	0	0	6

Ranked from our own play-by-play game log, which begins in 1901 — not from the record book, so a career played outside it shows nothing here rather than a short list.