00:00Alright, this man is a legend, you know, a big part of the 86 Mets, one of their big spark
00:06plugs, I'm talking about Wally Bachman, you know, let's go for a walk Wally and just talk about your career
00:13and baseball philosophy.
00:31You know, of course, I was 10 years old in 1986, and you're making me old Frank, you know, it
00:41happens, it happens, but I remember that season, and you were absolutely one of the sparks in that, people don't
00:47realize this, you actually led the Mets that year in hitting, 320.
00:52I did, it was a great year, it was a great team, Frank, it was, you know, when I think
00:59about the players, you know, we just had the reunion here just a few weeks ago, the 40th year reunion,
01:04I was ready to pass the baton to the Mets, you know, to win another world championship, and I hope
01:10they do, in my time, so.
01:13I mean, 20 years ago, I thought that one was probably their best shot, they've been their best team since
01:1886, it was a 2016 team that had those injuries, but it's just so many letdowns, where underperformance, bad decision
01:27making, letting Pete Alonso walk, signing Jorge Polanco, I mean, the decision making has been just brutal.
01:35Well, you know, you know, the numbers speak for themselves, when you lose a guy, you can measure it a
01:42couple of different ways, where it's runs scored, or it's RBIs, you can't add them both together, but when you
01:50talk about Alonso, you talk about Nimmo, you talk about McNeil, you talk about Diaz, it's a huge part of
01:58that team, big time court.
01:59Well, people use these ridiculous stats, like, ex-woba, and weighted, uh, on-expected, on-base average, based on how
02:09hard they hit it, they're talking about exit melo, they're talking about all the stats that mean nothing, I mean.
02:17They, you're absolutely right, they don't mean anything, you know, what, what means something is winning games, and how you're
02:24gonna do that.
02:25Um, you force the defense to make mistakes, with speed, you want to have a core of players that's got
02:32a little bit of power, got a little bit of speed, and, uh, evaluate as, as it goes, but, those
02:39are ways you win the games, forcing the defense to make mistakes, and, you just don't see it the way
02:44that it once was.
02:45No, you don't. Yeah, I, before they started, uh, the, doing the, uh, Manford man on, uh, second base, the
02:53ghost runner, everyone would come up, and these games would go 18 innings, because everyone would try to play hero
02:58ball, because they'd want to hit a walk-off home run, but, if you get on base, you get, move
03:04them over, you can score on a single.
03:05Yeah, you just get, you play the right way, I mean, uh, Dave Smith, Game 3, NLCS, I mean, you,
03:16let that ending off, with that drag bunt, and that was just as important, as Lenny Dykstra's home run.
03:23You know, it's, you know, it's, you know, everybody in the order, you know, lineup, you have a role, and,
03:30mine and Lenny's was, our role was to get on base, and let Hernandez, and Strawberry, and, uh, Carter, those
03:38guys get behind us, to drive in the runs, but, uh, those things work, everybody has a role on the
03:45field, and it just, uh, I wish more players understood their role.
03:51You see a leadoff hitter goes 2-0 to leadoff a game, and he's swinging at the next pitch, where
03:58he should be taking the strike.
04:00I mean, they've completely changed, like, the whole dynamics, I mean, they're putting the top hitter in the leadoff spot,
04:06I, I just love the old way where you have the two spark plugs, you have the, your best, your
04:11fastest guy leading off, you have a scrappy guy who could either bunt, do drag bunt, get a hit, and
04:20then you're first and third.
04:21And all of a sudden, that's how beginnings start.
04:23You know, it's funny, because Lenny and I had a sign that we used to give each other, and if
04:28he was on first base, and I'd say, if I get a strike, I'm gonna bunt, we'd touch helmets, and
04:34he's gonna steal on the pitch, I'm gonna bunt the ball to third.
04:38I couldn't tell you how many times through the course of that season, we were first and third with no
04:43outs in the first inning of a game.
04:45And, of course, if you ever watched the, uh, scene, the, uh, highlight video, the, uh, Duran Duran wild voice.
04:51Oh, yeah, no, it's, it's a good one.
04:53I mean, I, I just, I, I, I tell you that song, I just think of, uh, you and Lenny
04:58and that, uh, video montage that they put together.
05:00No, it was, it was a good video, and we played that way the whole year.
05:04Oh.
05:05And I know that we were a big piece of helping our team win, but, you know, it takes 25
05:10guys to win a World Series.
05:12And everybody has a part, and it's just not the nine guys that are on the field at that given
05:18time.
05:19It takes a whole crew of guys to be able to win a championship.
05:21And I just love how they just played all, you just had that, I heard that the mantra was, uh,
05:27when you have you on the road, you're going to kick ass, steal your women, and drink your beer.
05:34And it was even worse than that, Frank, but I won't say exactly what we said.
05:38Well, I'm paraphrasing.
05:39But you're pretty close.
05:40I'm paraphrasing.
05:41Yeah.
05:42Maybe I cleaned it up, I gave a PG version of it.
05:44You did clean it up, that's PG.
05:45I gave the, I gave the PG version of it.
05:48Because it was X.
05:49Yeah.
05:52But, uh, I just love that attitude, and you had four bench-clearing bras, and we're not talking the bench
05:58-clearing bras where you just get on the mountain and just say, hey, how you doing over there?
06:01Hey, we, we might have one today here, Frank, with you being the bench coach.
06:07We could have one with the Long Island Ducks today after what I'd seen yesterday.
06:12I mean, I loved, uh, I loved the story of, uh, of, like, uh, Kevin Mitchell had to be, like,
06:17pried away from Sami Khalifa.
06:19Oh, he choked him, man.
06:21Halfway to death.
06:23And it was, we did, we had to pull him off, off of him.
06:26So, that was in Pittsburgh, I think.
06:28And, uh, the one with, uh, where Dallas Roper is chasing, uh, David Palmer?
06:33Oh, yeah.
06:34No, there was fight after fight after fight.
06:37Uncle Bill, we called, God rest his soul.
06:40Bill Robinson played for the Pirates, and he went in the stands after a fan during a game.
06:45So, we had some crazy ones.
06:48But that, that, that, that to me was, that team was just the way they played.
06:52The energy wasn't the home runs.
06:54It wasn't, it was just the, the heart.
06:57And that, it was what motivates me.
07:00We had so many ways to win games.
07:03With speed, with power.
07:05You know, I mean, you look at our lineup, it was a great lineup.
07:09But we did everything we had to do to win games.
07:13And I thought it was important.
07:14I actually try to instill some of those things that Davey Johnson, even a guy like Jim Leland, did for
07:22me as a player and talked to me.
07:25Uh, try to instill some of that stuff in the players that I have today.
07:28I mean, you've actually played with, uh, two of the best players of all time.
07:32There's no doubt.
07:33I mean, uh, after you left the Mets, you went to, uh, well, after a year in Minnesota, you went
07:38to, uh, Pittsburgh.
07:39Right.
07:39And you played with, uh, Bonds.
07:41And your last season, you were on the Mariners, and you played with Griffey.
07:44I played with, and I also played with Kirby Puck in Minnesota.
07:47You did.
07:48Yes, you did.
07:48And, yes, probably some of the greatest players that played the game.
07:51So, uh, exciting, great players, fun to play with, and they're all great guys.
07:57And Keith Hernandez should be in the Hall of Fame along with them.
08:00And so, and...
08:00They saved me a lot of errors.
08:02And, uh, say what you want about the juiced era.
08:07I always have a kind of a laissez-faire attitude about it, that basically the commissioner allowed it.
08:14A hundred percent.
08:15And because the commissioner allowed it, you can't, you can't go after the players who, who use steroids.
08:23You had to, I give, I give total forgiveness.
08:25If you're suspended, you're suspended.
08:27Move on.
08:29Baseball makes it, makes it a bigger deal by being so sanctimonious and holier than Dow.
08:35Now, Barry Bonds is one of the greatest players of all time.
08:38The Hall of Fame without Barry Bonds is not complete.
08:42Pete Rose.
08:42Yeah, him too.
08:43I don't care what he did off the field.
08:45What he did on the field is what was special.
08:48Nobody's going to ever get that many hits.
08:49No.
08:50And he should have been in the Hall of Fame a long time ago.
08:52The, the, the, the baseball is a sport that just really just hurt itself in so many ways.
08:57And, uh, I, I, I want to see total forgiveness for all the steroid guys.
09:03And if their stats say they should be in the Hall of Fame, they should be in the Hall of
09:07Fame.
09:07I'm talking Bonds.
09:08You still got to hit a baseball with a round bat, right?
09:10Yeah.
09:11And you know what the video is?
09:13Everyone thinks they, they talk about exit velo.
09:15I, I don't want to hear exit velo.
09:18They talk about launch angle.
09:20I don't want to see launch.
09:21I don't want to see these stats.
09:22These are the, these are the analytic stats that mean nothing to me.
09:26Exuated.
09:27You know what it does?
09:28You strike out 200 times a year.
09:30Yeah, yeah.
09:31If Dave Kingman played today, he'd be making $50 million and, and give him posters.
09:38Yes, 100%.
09:39I mean, Dave Kingman.
09:41I see him hit him over the light tower at Shakespeare when I played.
09:45I mean, I never seen him go to the Hall of Fame before.
09:49A strong, big man, strong man.
09:52But he hit 190.
09:55Well, he hit 190 now, Frank.
09:57Yeah, that's what I mean.
09:58That's why I say he's...
09:59You make a lot of money doing that.
10:00That's why he's a big star.
10:02You know, I didn't have exactly fast hands, so, and that, and this is why you've always
10:06been special to me, because whenever I would play like softball and I didn't have fast
10:11hands, I didn't have anything, I'd always do like this.
10:16That's my stance, Frank.
10:18I mean, you see, all I can do is I try to serve it over like the first baseman's head.
10:22That's how I got my best hits.
10:24It's a hit.
10:25Yeah.
10:25Any way you hit, you take it.
10:27And I just remember your stance was the one that was most comfortable for me growing up.
10:35That's it right there, Frank.
10:40All right, well, thanks for joining.
10:42It's always been a pleasure.
10:43You know, anytime I get to talk with any member of an 86 team, it's a dream come true.
10:49You
