Welcome to Vote Wally!

Hey,

My name is John Fitzgerald. I am the producer of "Playing for Peanuts" - a new TV show about minor league baseball.

Long story short, I followed Wally Backman's minor league team last year. We had cameras and microphones following Wally and his team all summer. It was alot of fun, very costly and the experience has just about ruined my life.

Back to the point... I bought the VoteWally.net website in early 2008 as a way to create a small viral marketing campaign to promote the show - Wally is a leader and there is an election coming up... It seemed like a perfect fit.

Unfortunately, I had neither the time or money to run a secondary website (I already have my hands full with the Playing for Peanuts website and blog).

As the 2008 baseball season began, a few things happened that have led you to this very blog at this very moment (cue the dramatic music):

1.) Playing for Peanuts debuted nationally, to a weekly audience of 150K

2.) The Mets got off to a slow start, prompting Mets fans to call for Wally Backman to be hired as the new Mets manager.

3.) A Mets fan named Chris (I never met the guy but we've exchanged emails) started the Hire Wally Backman Blog.

4.) A friend of mine - Mike Curtin - started a Hire Wally Backman petition. Mike is a longtime Mets fan and a fan of Playing for Peanuts. He took some initiative and the petition has been featured nationally. It currently has over 350 signatures.

5.) Mets fans - and fans of other MLB teams - continually ask me why Wally Backman isn't managing in the Major Leagues.

6.) A few friends have expressed the desire to take this website and use it to alert people to Wally Backman's story and his attempt to get back into affiliated baseball. I fully support that and I happily endorse the use of this website for those intentions. All I ask is that revenues from T-shirt and merch sales go to the production of Playing for Peanuts, as the production is still struggling to get out of the red.

To me, Wally Backman represents everything that baseball should be - hard nosed, dirty and fundamentally sound. Backman's baseball knowledge exceeds that of most MLB executives, but he scares them because MLB is all about playing it safe. I could get into specifics, but the point is that Wally Backman made some mistakes in his life and he apologized and a decade has passed and he still can't get an interview to manage or coach in the minor leagues. It's a disgrace.

If you don't like the corporate direction of Major League Baseball, if Joe Buck makes you ill and if you think Bud Selig is the biggest snake oil salesman this side of David Stern, then Vote Wally.

So that's it... If you have any questions, feel free to post 'em and someone (maybe me, maybe not) will be happy to answer them. And if you're interested in posting a "guest blog" about why you want Wally Backman to manage your favorite MLB team or a minor league affiliate, please let us know.

-John Fitzgerald
Playing for Peanuts